Life is Strange: At a Moment of Our Choosing
by nomadff16
Summary: My school friend and I found ourselves wielding superpowers, the trigger being saving a stranger from Nathan Prescott. Through a single week our lives changed to the point where there was no return... or was there? (Further description in first Author's Note.)
1. chapter 1

**AN: This story is rated M for underage drinking, drug use, sexual themes (slightly, they're teenagers), and language to name a few. I obviously own nothing having to do with Life is Strange, if I did I would make something like this into a sequel. Feel free to review honestly, this is my first fully posted story. Let the reading commence!**

I heard a gasp and turned around to my table partner, Max Caulfield. She was a shy, petite girl with shoulder length brown hair and cute features. She dozed off in art, I guess having a nightmare for those few minutes. I gave her a concerned look before focusing on Mr. Jefferson's lecture about capturing the 'human condition'. He was rambling on about capturing true emotions, such as innocence and desperation if the conditions are correct when a flash went off behind me. I struggled to not roll my eyes as everyone focused on Max.

"Shh, I believe Max has taken what you kids call a 'selfie'. A dumb word for a wonderful photographic tradition. And Max... has a gift. Of course, as you all know, the photo portrait has been popular since the early eighteen hundreds. Your generation was not the first to use images for selfie-expression. Sorry. I couldn't resist. The point remains that the portraiture has always been a vital aspect of art, and photography, for as long as it's been around. Now Max, since you've captured our interest and clearly want to join the conversation, can you please tell us the name of the process that gave birth to the first self-portraits?"

"I did know, but I kinda forgot." Came her quiet voice. Mr. Jefferson berated her before asking the rest of the class.

"Louis Daguerre was a French painter who created 'daguerreotypes', a process that gave portraits a sharp reflective style, like a mirror." The slutty girl turned to Max. "Now you're totally stuck in the Retro Zone. Sad face." I groaned out loud as her entourage giggled.

"What are you, fucking five? Sad face, really? And what do you even mean by 'Retro Zone'? It makes no sense." I questioned her.

"I'm going to pretend you didn't use that word, Mr. Lyons. Yes, Victoria, what did you mean with that apparent insult? She doesn't appear to be old fashioned in any way, so why don't you elaborate?" Mr. Jefferson backed me up. Victoria started to stutter, but the bell rang before she could respond. "And guys, don't forget the deadline to submit a photo in the Everyday Heroes contest. I'll fly out with the winner to San Francisco where you'll be feted by the art world. It's great exposure and it can kickstart a career in photography. So Stella and Alyssa, get it together. Taylor, don't hide, I'm still waiting for your entry too. And yes Max, I see you pretending not to see me." He walked back to his desk, quickly followed by the short haired garden tool.

"Thanks for helping, Nick." Max said as I packed up.

"Any time." I said, slinging my camera bag over my shoulder. I walked out and went to my locker, putting my folder away and heading for the door. My ear twitched and I listened in, hearing shouting from behind the girl's bathroom door. I walked over and pretended to look at the vending machine while listening to the conversation. Something about money and drug distribution in school. Then I heard a guy talking from inside, and got more curious. I looked around to see if anyone was watching before bursting into the bathroom. Everything seemed to dip into slow motion as I assessed the situation. Nathan Prescott was holding a gun to some blue haired girl, and I could see Max peeking out from behind the stalls. There was blood in Nathan's eyes, so I made a hasty decision and threw my hand in front of the gun right before he fired it.

"No!" I heard a shout from Max as I winced. I expected a sharp pain in my palm, but instead felt a light tap. Confused, I moved my hand back to look. Then everything started flying backwards, as if the world hit the rewind button on a DVD. I could barely think as I started walking backwards towards the art room, sitting down and putting my things back on the table. Max shot her head up and looked around, and I stared at her with bewildered eyes.

"What did you just do?" I asked quietly as Mr. Jefferson repeated his lecture.

"You're asking me? You threw your hand in front of a gun and didn't get hurt." She whispered.

"Well you just hit the rewind button on time, what did we just do?" I asked, still confused.

"I don't know, but we need to get to the bathroom to stop Nathan." She said.

"Agreed."

We waited quietly until the end of class, then walked quickly to the bathroom. Max went through her routine while I hid in the last stall.

"When it happens, I'll stop the bullet. Make sure you take a picture of him with the gun as proof."

"Alright, just be careful." She whispered. The door burst open again and Nathan started to coax himself, right before the blue haired girl came in after him. I slowly took out the lock on the stall and stepped down from the toilet seat, ready to pounce. As soon as I heard him start shouting I burst out and threw my hand in front of the barrel, the bullet nudging against my hand. The flash of Max's camera startled Nathan, giving me the chance to disarm him. I pushed the gun up and slammed it against his face. He didn't seem fazed and turned back to me, kicking me in the stomach. I fell to my knees and clutched the delicate area while the girl with blue hair smacked the gun out of his hand and swept his legs out from under him. She grabbed the gun and hid in a stall just before the door burst open. The principal glared at all of us as he stepped into the girl's bathroom.

"Care to explain what's going on here?" He growled.

"Nathan had a gun, so we tried to stop him from doing anything." Max explained, coming out from the corner.

"I assume you have proof of that accusation." He warned. She quickly took out the photo and showed him.

"And why are you here, Mr. Lyons?" He asked looking to me.

"I heard a guy yelling, and opened the door to see him pointing a gun at someone." I explained hastily.

"So your first instinct is to put your hand in front of it? A hand doesn't stop a bullet."

"What can I say? Instinct doesn't play by rules."

"Fine, you two go back to your dorms." He ordered.

"You two are gonna face court for this!" Nathan shouted at us. I turned and glared at him.

"Watch it, Prescott. I could ruin you like _that_." I snapped my fingers for effect, only for everyone to be startled as Nathan's head suddenly flew backwards as if he got hit in the face. Max grabbed my arm and pulled me away before anything else happened.


	2. chapter 2

"What the fuck was that?" I asked once we were out of earshot.

"I have no idea, but we need to be careful before something goes very wrong." She looked down at her phone, then groaned. "Ugh, I have to give Warren his flash drive. He's in the parking lot, so I'll go and get it while you keep him busy with guy talk." She said before taking off.

"Sure, guy talk." I mumbled before walking off. It didn't take long before I reached the parking lot, easily seeing Warren leaning against his car.

"Hey Warren, how goes the science life?" I asked, leaning next to him on the hood.

"Nothing astronomical, just the basics." He said. We chatted for a couple minutes before Max finally showed up.

"Dude, sick new ride. Old school, I like it." She commented on the car.

"Hey Max." He greeted, going in for a hug. She held up the flash drive to stop him.

"Here's your flash drive. Thanks." She said.

"No problem. Did you watch all of them?" He asked.

"Most, didn't have time between school and school work."

"That's fair." He nodded.

"Uh oh. Fuckwad on your six, Max." I grumbled, balling up a fist.

"Max Caulfield, right? You're one of Jefferson's photo groupies?" Nathan growled as he stomped up to us.

"I'm one of his students." She corrected. Nathan shoved Warren out of the way to get in her face.

"What-the-fuck-ever. I know you like to take pictures, especially when you're hiding out in the bathrooms."

"I warned you, asshole. Do you really want this to go down again?" I asked, walking up to stand next to her.

"Get the fuck out of here faggot." He said, throwing a fist. I put my hand up and stopped it, throwing a punch at his jaw. He barely felt a brush hit him, and laughed.

"God, you're so fucking weak." He taunted. I kicked him in the gut then kicked him in the knee with no outcome. A truck drove up and stopped in front of us, the blue haired girl in the driver's seat.

"Max?" She called from inside the truck.

"Chloe?" Max called back, running up to the truck.

"No way, you again?" Nathan groaned from in front of me. Warren jumped at Nathan and knocked him to the ground while he was distracted.

"Warren!" Max yelled.

"Go! Both of you! I got this!" He said right before Nathan started beating him up. Chloe opened the door for Max and I.

"Get in, Max!" She shouted. Max climbed in and I dove in right before Nathan kicked the door closed.

"Get your punk asses out of there now! Don't even try to run! Nobody messes with me! Nobody!" He screamed.

"Feel free to do it whenever." Max mumbled to me. I smirked and snapped my fingers, watching anger turn to pain in an instant. I waved to the security guard as we drove by, laughing down the road.

"Man, Nathan Prescott is messed up! And dangerous.This day never ends." Max complained.

"'Oh, and thanks, Chloe.' After five years, you're still Max Caulfield." Chloe grumbled as she drove. I could see Max slump in her seat and avoid eye contact. "Don't give me the guilty face, at least pretend you're glad to see me."

"I am seriously glad to see you. Oh, and thanks, Chloe. It makes perfect sense I'd see you today." She groaned.

"Yes, it's been that kinda day. So, what did that freak want with you?" Chloe asked.

"Hopefully nothing after today. So, how do you know Nathan?" Max asked, I listened in while I stared out the window.

"He's just another Arcadia asshole. Your friend really took a beatdown for you." I winced slightly at that. Warren did get a good thrashing. "Speaking of, who's this?" I broke my eyes from the scenery and focused on Chloe, who stared back.

"I'm Nick, I'm a friend of Max's and Prescott is probably after both of us now."

"Short and to the point, I can dig that." She smiled.

"I definitely owe Warren for this." Max said.

"You're not the only one in debt. And you're already causing trouble."

"Thought it would be quiet here. Feels so weird to be back." She commented.

"So, I guess Seattle sucked hard?"

"I guess. It was cool, but... I felt kind of lonely, out of my league."

"I would think you'd fit right in with the art school hipsters."

"Right. You look like the cover of Hipster-Girl-dot-com."

"At least you're still a smartass."

"That's why I'm here."

"Please, girl. You came back for Blackwell Academy."

"Only for Mark Jefferson. He was a pretty famous photographer in the '90s. I've always loved his work."

"Those that can't do, teach. I'm glad you found a good reason to come back."

"Don't you think I'm happy to see you?"

"No. You were happy to wait five years without a call or even a text." The entire conversation was so awkward, I felt like I shouldn't be listening. It was clear that Max used to live here, and Chloe felt abandoned as she didn't contact her for five years. To be honest, dick move Max Caulfield.

"I'm sorry. I know things were tough on you when I left."

"How do you know? You weren't even here."

"I didn't order my parents to move specifically to fuck you over, Chloe."

"You've been at Blackwell for almost a month without letting me know. 'Nuff said."

"I just wanted to settle in first and not be such a shy, cliche geek. I totally would've contacted you." That was a sad attempt at persuasion.

"I bet you don't use these sad excuses on Mr. Jefferson. Don't use them on me, Max." Well shit, I could feel the friendship in the air. Max slumped back in her seat defeatedly, then rummaged around in her bag and pulled out her camera.

"Broken. Oh, man, are you cereal?"

"Wow, haven't heard that one in a while." Chloe commented.

"Not everything changes. Except my camera has officially taken a shit."

"My step-douche has a boatload of tools. Maybe you can fix it at my place."

"I need very specific, tiny tools."

"Nerd alert! My stepdad has a fully-stocked garage. And he actually is a tiny tool. Welcome home, Max." I smiled at the welcome. Maybe they could make up after all. We were silent for the next few minutes before we got to the Price residence. I felt awkward as we walked up to the door, as if I shouldn't be there.

"Come on in, don't be shy." Chloe said, unlocking it and heading inside.

"The house still looks... nice." Max complimented.

"Home, shit home." She answered back. We headed up the stairs to her room, I felt like I needed to be as quiet as possible while she opened the door as loudly as she could.

"My room looks a bit different than the last time you saw it." She said absentmindedly, sitting on her bed and pulling out a cigarette. Max sat on the bed next to her while I unwinded in her desk chair.

"It's cool. At least we can chill out." Max said, trying to be optimistic.

"This isn't exactly my 'chill-out zone'; my step-Fuhrer makes sure of that. Put on some music while I 'medicate'." She requested. Max got up and looked around, finding the cd player and turning it on.

"It's in the metal box under the bed." I said, pointing to it.

"How'd you know that?" Chloe asked, sitting up.

"I kinda just got a sense for that kinda stuff." I answered.

"So tell me, what does Max Caulfield do for fun now that she's a grown-up?" Chloe asked quickly, changing the subject.

"Party all night." She answered after a second.

"Not Little Miss Wallflower. I bet you've never even been to a party." Chloe challenged. I smiled at the banter.

"Oh, right. I went to your birthday blowout." I rolled my eyes discreetly at that lame excuse.

"Max, you were twelve years old. That's... sad. You should stick to taking photos." Chloe suggested, seeming a bit downtrodden. Suddenly everything warped and Chloe started to move backwards for a few seconds.

"I take photos. Of me, the world... everything. It may sound sad, but I have a blast." She actually rewound just to make Chloe feel better.

"It doesn't sound that sad." She responded.

"I'm happiest when I've got a great image in my lens. I'm not lonely, not afraid."

"Now that's more inspiring. I don't feel so totally hopeless." Chloe trailed off, and I gave Max a look that said 'are you happy now?'. She gave a shrug and a cringe in response. She decided to move on and searched the metal box under the bed. She picked up a disc, but then stuck her hand back in with a pause. Chloe noticed and snatched something out of Max's hand.

"Hey, give me that!" She yelped as she swiped the object, a picture.

"Sorry. I wasn't trying to be nosy. Obviously, she was a good friend." It must have been about that Rachel Amber girl who went missing.

"That's putting it mildly." Chloe mumbled. Hello, that piqued my interest.

"That's Rachel Amber. Her 'Missing Person' posters are all over Blackwell." Max observed.

"Yeah, I put them up. She was my angel." The plot thickens, what happened between them?

"After my dad died and you moved, I felt abandoned. Rachel saved my life." Was she going to commit suicide? If so I feel bad for ever judging her.

"Man, I had no idea." Max said, dumbfounded.

"Well, you never made much effort to find out. I was fourteen, we were best friends." Chloe replied hotly.

"So, Rachel took my place. I'm glad she was there for you." Max said shyly.

"Rachel had my back. We were gonna kick the world's ass. You would laugh at how different we were. She wanted to be a star." Chloe said dreamily.

"She looks like a model." Max commented.

"That was her plan. Our plan. Get the hell out of Bigfootville, and into Los Angeles." That's a long way to go, Oregon to California.

"So, what happened? Did your folks, your mom, try to stop you?" Max asked.

"My mom was too busy hooked up with Sergeant Shithead." Chloe growled.

"I feel the love. Now, when did Rachel actually disappear?" Max asked, now we were getting into a mystery, woo hoo.

"Six months ago. She just left Arcadia. Without a word. Without... me."

"How do you know she disappeared? Maybe she wanted to start a totally new life."

"Unlike you, she would've told me, okay? Something happened to her." And right back to anger for Max moving.

"I believe you. I'm just trying to get all deductive."

"Do you have any suspects for who took Rachel?" I asked out of the blue.

"Not really, but we already had a plan to leave. She wouldn't have just abandoned it out of nowhere."

"We need to start making a list of people who might have a grudge against Rachel, anyone who had something against her." I said. "Did she say anything before she disappeared?"

"Before she left, she said she met somebody who changed her life. Then, poof."

"And you haven't heard anything from her since?" Max asked, inserting herself.

"Like everybody in my life. My dad, you and Rachel. Gone. Can you put on some music now?" Well that ended that conversation. Chloe laid back down and puffed smoke while Max put in the cd. "Anyway, you can find tools to fix your camera in the garage."

"Chloe, are you okay?" Max asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

"Sure, I'm awesome. I just want to blaze and be alone for a moment." I kind of tuned out while I was thinking of ways to get information on Rachel when a loud throat being cleared broke my concentration. "Completely alone." She affirmed.

"Oh, sorry." I apologized, getting up and following Max out of the room. I laid down on the steps and closed my eyes, waiting for Max to get the tools. I heard a crash, then everything warped. I laughed as loudly as possible at that as Max came back up the stairs with a box of tools.

"Not a word, jackass." She grumbled. I was still giggling when we came back into Chloe's room.


	3. chapter 3

It took all of ten minutes for Max to officially declare her camera deceased, groaning as she put the tools down.

"I can't fix this!" She exclaimed, me and Chloe looking over from the bed at the outburst. The bluenette huffed and stood, going to one of her drawers and taking out a camera.

"I... er... know it was your birthday last month. This was my real father's camera. I want you to have it." Aww, that's sweet of her.

"That's so cool you remembered my birthday, but I can't take this." How humble of her.

"Of course you can. My dad would be pissed if I never used it, and now I know it will be used awesomely." Chloe complemented her. "Now that we got that mushy shit out of the way, I feel like stagediving."

I chuckled as Chloe turned up the music and jumped onto her bed. "Come on, shake that boney white ass!" she cheered over the music. "Or take a picture of me with your new camera!" I was half tempted to start jumping myself when there was a sudden slam downstairs.

"Chloe, are you up there?" Came a deep male voice.

"Turn it off, turn it off." Chloe rushed, slicing her hand across her throat. Max shut off the music and all of us looked to each other with wide eyes.

"How many times have I told you to stop blasting that punk shit?!" Hollered the step-fuhrer.

"Dude, the music's not even on! Asshole." Muttered Chloe.

"I'm coming up, we need to talk!" He barked, stomping soon coming from the steps.

"No fucking way. You both need to hide, my step-dad will kill me if he finds you here." She ordered, blocking the door.

"Chloe, what's going on? Open this door, please." He requested.

"Chill, I'm changing, is that okay?" She asked back. Me and Max scrambled around the room, not being able to find a spot. at the last second I took a risky move and dove out of the window, grabbing onto the edge with one hand. The door burst open and the man walked in, glaring at Max and Chloe.

"What's going on in here? Why is she here?" He asked, pointing to the brunette.

"None of your business." Chloe defended.

"I don't like strangers here." He growled.

"Stop freaking, she's not a stranger. This is my friend." Chloe explained.

"Great, another one of your 'friends'." He groaned. "One of my guns is missing, did you take it?" He asked, getting to the point.

"Oh God, I didn't take your stupid gun. You do know I believe in gun control."

"Wait, is that grass? You've been toking up again in here!" He shouted.

"Oh yeah. Guns, weed, you are trippin' balls."

"I am sick of your disrespect! Tell me the truth, that's an order!" Someone had to think fast, so I stepped up. Or, hopped in is more like it.

"It's not my pot, it's from Max!" Chloe yelled. He got in Max's face and stared her down.

"Is this true?" He growled.

"Actually, sir, it's mine." I said, pulling myself up and into the room.

"Who the fuck are you?" He asked, bewildered.

"I'm Nick, one of Max's and Chloe's friends." I answered, holding my hand out to shake.

"You bring drugs into my house and expect a proper greeting? How about I just call the police? I'm sick of you losers dragging Chloe down, now I just have another couple of punks to deal with in her life." He said, invading my space.

"Get the hell away from them, man! Stop harassing my friends!" Chloe shouted.

"You don't have any friends!" He shouted back, turning to her. I took my chance and slammed my fist into the back of his head, though he felt nothing. Chloe's eyes widened as I held my fingers as if I was going to snap.

"Like you know. You're not even a real cop, you're a security guard!" Ouch, that insult hurt him so badly.

"I was a soldier, Chloe. Max, Nick, if I see either of you here again you'll learn all about real trouble." He threatened before leaving.

"What the fuck was that, man? You punched my dad so weakly he didn't even feel it." Chloe asked, sounding disappointed.

"Sorry, you'll understand soon." I said.

"Well, anyway, thanks for taking the heat. Now we should get out of here, ready to go out the window again?" She asked.

"Only of I have to, I barely grabbed the edge when I jumped out." I said, climbing out and dropping down. "Alright, I'll catch you." I called up. Max stuck her head out and nodded, clambering out and falling. I caught her like a bride and set her down, looking back up. There was silence for a moment, and I became concerned.

"Chloe?" I whispered harshly.

"Give me a minute, I'm getting my things." She responded, sticking her head out and glaring at me.

"Sorry." I apologized, sticking my hands up in surrender. I leaned against the garage door while we waited, becoming impatient.

"Incoming!" Came a quiet cheer from above. I panicked and dove for the area under the window, throwing my arms out. She was much lighter than I expected once she slammed into my awaiting arms, quickly hopping down and walking towards her truck.

"Where are we going?" Max asked as we followed her.

"The one place we can hang in this hickhole." She answered basically.


	4. chapter 4

"Isn't this awesome sauce? Totally reminds me of when we were kids." Chloe called from up the trail leading to a lighthouse. "Come on, slowpokes."

By the time we actually reached the top Chloe was sitting on the bench, looking out at the waves far below. Max took a seat next to her friend, leaving me to sit on the ground behind the bench. I crossed my arms and legs, leaning my head against the back and closing my eyes.

"Sure you don't want to be alone?" Max asked the bluenette.

"Have a seat, Pete." Chloe responded, making my brow furrow.

"You're in a good mood." Max pointed out, just as confused as me.

"Seeing my step-dork get played makes me happy." She explained simply.

"I'm not as brave as you. And David is indeed a step-douche." Max affirmed.

"Amen." I agreed.

"Sorry you guys had to experience it first hand." Chloe apologized.

"You have to live with him. Has he always been this way?" Max asked.

"Ever since my desperate mom dragged his ass to our home. I never trusted David." Chloe grunted.

"He freaked out on poor Kate Marsh today." Max said out of the blue.

"I know her. She's cool. Only that prick would bully her."

"He has some kind of weird agenda."

"He has a lot of secret files. Rambo still thinks he's gathering enemy intelligence. did you take a peak?"

"You know I wanted to, but... I realized I have enough mystery in my life."

"I'd like to find out. I bet he's got some serious porn in there."

"Ew." I let out a short chuckle at the blunt expression.

"He has a total surveillance fetish. I worry there are spy cams in the house."

"I knew you didn't know! Chloe, your house is under surveillance."

"What are you talking about?"

"There are cameras all over the house. I saw it on a monitor in the garage."

"I knew it! He is so hella fucking paranoid. I'll keep this a secret for now."

"Sometimes ignorance is bliss." If ever there were a truer statement...

"No wonder I'm so miserable. Everybody in this town knows everybody's secrets."

"Oh. Believe me, there are some secrets people don't know." I said.

"What's Nathan's secret?" Or just ignore me, that's fine too.

"He's an elite asshole who sells bad shit cut with laxative, and he dosed me with some drug in his room." Well that's not good. At all.

"What?" Max was just as stunned.

"I met him in some shithole bar that didn't card me. He was too rich for the place and too wasted. And he kept flashing bills."

"Just tell me what happened, Chloe. Now." Did Max just get serious? That doesn't happen often.

"I was an idiot. I thought he was so blazed it would be an easy score."

"You needed money that bad?"

"Actually, yes. I owe big time. And I thought I'd have enough for me and Rachel if she showed up."

"How much do you owe?"

"A whole hell of a lot, I'm sure." I commented.

"Three grand plus interest." Chloe said.

"Called it." I cut in, raising a fist in victory.

"And before I could get a chunk of that from Nathan he dosed my drink with some shit."

"God Chloe, I can't believe this. I mean, I do. Then what?" Max was riveted, I could tell.

"I know I passed out on the floor. I woke up and that perv was smiling, crawling towards me with a camera."

"Go on."

"If you want, we're not forcing you." I added.

"Everything was a blur. I tried to kick him in the balls and broke a lamp. Nathan freaked, so I managed to bum rush the door and get the hell out. Max, it was insane."

"Chloe, that is so fucked up. What did you do then?"

"I figured I would make him pay me to keep quiet. So we met in the bathroom."

"And he brought a gun." Max deadpanned.

"That was Nathan's last mistake."

"He's still dangerous, Chloe. Not just to you."

"Plus we got him deported today, so that's a bonus." I chuckled.

"I won't always be there to save you." Max stated.

"You were here today, Max. You saved me! I'm still tripping on that. Seeing you after all these years feels like..." Chloe couldn't think of the word.

"Destiny?" Max supplied.

"Old times?" I gave my idea. I felt the bench creak as Chloe and Max got up, walking over to stand by the cliff.

"If this is destiny, I hope we can find Rachel. I miss her, Max. This shit-pit has taken away everyone I've ever loved. I'd like to drop a bomb on Arcadia Bay and turn it to fucking glass." So Chloe was an extremist, I could dig that. My eyes snapped open when I heard the gasp behind me. I stood and looked over, seeing Max laying in the grass motionless.

"Oh shit!" I yelped, leaping over and grabbing her by the arms. "Help me lay her out flat." I rambled, checking her pulse and other vital things. Her eyes flew open and she shot up, making me fly backwards.

"Chloe! Nick! You're here! I'm back. Oh, my lord, this is real! it's real! Oh, man, this sucks."

"Max, what's going on? You totally blacked out." Chloe was still freaking out.

"I didn't black out, I had another vision. The town is going to get wiped out by a tornado."

"Oregon gets about five tornadoes every twenty years, you just zoned." Chloe denied. Max grabbed Chloe's wrist desperately.

"No, no, I saw it! I could actually feel the electricity in the air." If I didn't already know it was real I would think she had smoked something good.

"Come on, take a breath, okay?" Chloe tried to calm her down.

"Chloe, I'm not crazy. But there's something else I have to tell you. Something...hardcore." And we're dropping the bombshell in...

Three...

Two...

"Talk to me, Max."

One...

"I had this same vision earlier in class. When I came out of it, I discovered I could reverse time. Like I said, not crazy." Kaboom!

"But high, right?" Chloe asked.

"Aren't we all?" I said, taking a seat on the bench.

"Listen to me, how do you think we saved you in the bathroom?" Max asked.

"By reversing time? Yeah, sure."

"We saw you almost get shot, Chloe. Saw you almost... die. I was able to make us go back and Nick stopped the bullet."

"Okay, I see you're a geek now with a great imagination, but this isn't anime or a video game; people don't have those powers, Max."

"I do." I said calmly, raising my hand.

"I don't know what I have, but I have it. And I'm scared shitless." No one ever listened to me, did they?

"You need to get high. It's been a hella insane fucking day." I could agree to both those statements. That was when I felt something cold touch my nose.

"Uh, guys." I said weakly, looking up. The girls had noticed it too, and looked around in awe.

"What the hell is this?" Chloe asked.

"Snowflakes." Max answered wistfully.

"It's like eighty degrees, how?"

"Climate change, or a storm is coming." Oh shit, it was real.

"Max, start from the beginning, tell me everything." Yes, we got her on board.


	5. chapter 5

**AN: I hope this chapter makes up for the extra short one. It was the end of the first episode of the game, and nothing is said about what happened in between those two points. Anyway, read and review.**

"Let's talk about your superpowers." Chloe said, dropping back into her seat next to me and across from Max. We had come to the Two Whales Diner for some much needed breakfast. All of Arcadia Bay was in an uproar about the sudden snowfall the day before, which didn't surprise me in the least.

"I don't have any explanation. And I can't explain why I saw that crazy fucking tornado." Max said bluntly.

"Same, minus the visions of the future part." I said, continuing to eat my waffles.

"Come on, that's just a daydream. I want proof you can rewind time." Chloe pressed.

"This is all happening so fast." Max tried to ease on the gas.

"We'll start slow. Right here. Now." Chloe said, having none of it.

Max thought for a minute. "I can tell you every single thing you have in your pockets."

"You have x-ray vision, dude? I don't even know what's in my pockets. Let me see." Chloe dug deep into her pockets to feel around.

"Okay, Max, impress me!"

"I don't know." Max said sullenly.

"Do you have some kind of power or not? Okay, Psychic Girl, let me show you what's actually in my pockets." Chloe placed the items on the table.

"That was beyond epic fail. You even made me want to believe you." Ouch, that had to hurt. Max looked at the items in detail, then the world warped around me for a few seconds.

"So, this is me telling you what's inside your pockets." Max stalled.

"Okay, Max, I'm hella ready."

"Your car keys!" Wow, really? I never would've guessed.

"Duh, way too easy! I need details! Describe my keychain."

"A cute robot panda keychain!"

"Not bad, Super Max! You do have that Irish luck, Caulfield. What else?"

"I'm pretty sure you have cigarettes on you."

"Yes, you know I'm a smoker. But how many cigarettes?"

"Seven cigarettes."

"A superpower that allows you to count cigarettes. Cool!" The sarcasm is strong with this one. "Amazing! Something else in my pockets?"

"Some money?"

"Clearly I'm rich as fuck, how much do I have?"

"Eighty-six cents."

"That's right, living large in Arcadia Bay! So, that was cool, show me more!"

"A parking ticket."

"You know me well. But what is the exact time I was busted?"

"Ten thirty-four a.m."

"Booyah! Max can tell time! Even a broken clock is right twice a day. Whatevs the hell that means." Chloe put the items on the table and looked them over. She then looked at Max dumbfounded. "Amazeballs. I literally just got chills all over my neck. You have powers." Joyce, Chloe's mom, came over and put her food on the table.

"Take that crap off the table, Chloe."

"Sure, Mom." Chloe agreed, too focused to care.

"How's the food, Max?" Joyce asked.

"Better than I remembered." She answered.

"Very good save. What about you, son. You enjoying the food?" She asked me.

"Definitely." I said happily.

"Man, I'm hungry like the wolf." Chloe said after her mom left.

"Clearly." Max responded, looking at her plate.

"I am freaking out about what just happened. You have to show me more, something way cooler so I will believe you without any doubt." She just told you the exact contents of your pockets, what else do you need?

"I will predict the future."

"No way!"

"This should be fun." I muttered, leaning back to watch. Joyce walked past our table, waving to us. As she continued walking, the truck driver accidently dropped his mug.

"Oops!" He said.

"Did you break another cup? Really? No refill for you!" A cop sitting at the counter listened to his radio.

"Shoot, now I gotta take this call and leave my breakfast. Hey, where is my partner?" The police car outside sounded off and sped away. Justin and Trevor began to argue.

"You're a dick!"

"Don't slap me, bitch!"

"Take your fight club outside!" Joyce hollered.

"He started it!"

"I'm finishing it!" Get shut down, kid. A cockroach crawled on the jukebox and a distorted jangle of tunes began playing.

"That's the best song I've heard yet!" Said the clumsy man with no refills.

"This is sure the hell better than that other garbage!" Said another man.

"I think our jukebox is headed for Davy Jones's locker." Joyce remarked.

"So, what are you waiting for?" Chloe snapped us out of our focused trance. Max rewound time and listed off the events perfectly. "I pledge allegiance to Max and the power for which she stands."

"This isn't a toy, Chloe. I do have to be careful how I use it." She got cut off.

"Screw that! Of course it's a toy! The best toy ever! You can bang anyone with no strings attached, rewind time, and boom, it's like it never happened!" Hello, that's a thought that never occurred to me.

"Grow up."

"Maybe you made a move on me and I would never know!" I was into it, and I knew others would be too.

"Yes, that's what I did."

"You can rewind time, Max. That's fucking insane. We have to play!"

"Yes please, I wanna test my powers out too." I begged.

"I don't have time." Max said, shutting us down.

"Those words did _not_ just come out of your mouth."

"You did not just say that." I noticed red forming under her nose.

"Uh, Check out your nose. Too much blow?" Chloe joked before the blood started to pour. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Oh shit, is it the powers?"

"Too much excitement. See what happens when we hook up again?" Max asked, wiping her nose.

"Well, let's give yours a rest by seeing his." Chloe said, pointing at me.

"Oh, I could so make a joke out of that." I sighed defeatedly.

"Perv." Chloe laughed, punching me in the shoulder. "Now show us what you got."

"I still don't know all of it, so bear with me." I said. "I'm gonna test something, do you have a pencil on you, Max?" I asked.

"Sure." She said, pulling out the utensil and handing it to me. I pulled and tried to snap it with all of my strength, but to no avail.

"What, can you not break things now or something?" Chloe asked. I held up a finger with a grin as I placed the pencil on the table. I felt a bit nervous as I raised my hand and snapped my fingers. Chloe yelped as the end of the pencil flew past her face and skidded across the floor.

"What the fuck was that?" She asked, wide eyed.

"That was me using my powers. You see, I think what it is is that I can harm things, but only when I want to. So I could punch someone, wait a week, then snap my fingers and they get decked by an invisible fist." I was rambling at that point.

"And that's only what you know you can do?" She asked.

"Yeah, I kind of punched Nathan Prescott in the jaw yesterday."

"Then let's go to one of my secret lairs and fully test your powers. You need a sidekick to guide you guys."

"Okay, Girl Wonder, show us the way to Chloe's Cave."

"Okay, Superkids, let's go to my secret place!" Chloe was excited, which I was glad for. Max's phone buzzed in her pocket before we stepped out of the door.

"Don't even answer. We have places to go and people to do. Come on, before Mom starts some more shit. Let's bail!"

"I could not agree with that sentence more." I said.

"It's Kate Marsh, from Blackwell." Well shit, that couldn't be good.

"Big whoop. You don't call me once in five years and now you're all over some beeatch you see every day at school? I see how you roll. So go ahead, chat up Kate Marsh from Blackwell. I've got other people to hang out with too." Well that was harsh. Max gave a small glare before answering.

"Hey, Kate, what's up?"

"Please, don't let your best friend get in the way." Chloe said.

"Let's just wait in the truck, Chloe." I mumbled. Chloe nodded, and I signalled Max where we were going.

"You okay?" I heard Max say before we exited the diner.

"Can you believe her? She doesn't call for how many years then suddenly has to answer this one girl's calls." Chloe grumbled.

"Kate is a girl at school who's friends with Max. Recently she was dosed with drugs at a party and now a video of her making out with multiple guys is going around the school. I think she's on the verge of suicide, but you didn't hear it from me." I explained.

"That's fucked up. Who drugged her?" She asked as she opened the car door.

"My honest opinion, Nathan Prescott is the highest on the list."

"Well, if anything it's good she took the call. That could've changed a lot in her life." Chloe said. Max left the diner and got in. We drove for a few minutes before turning down a dirt path. We got out and looked around the junkyard, I felt strangely calm in the giant scrap heap.

"Is this a race?" Max asked from behind us.

"Keep up."

"How many times are you going to get pissed at me this week?"

"That depends on you. And how well you do in this phase of the test. Welcome to American Rust, my home away from hell." Chloe spread her arms wide and spun dramatically.

"Raw and rough. It suits you." Max said. I burst into a giggling fit with that, much to their chagrin.

"Max, do you know how awesome this is? I get my best friend back, and she's also supersized?" I laughed again.

"We don't know for how long."

"Exactly why it's time to have fun." Chloe took out a revolver, instantly making me stop laughing.

"Yeah, get your mind out of the gutter, Nick." Chloe said menacingly.

"David might be a douche, but you did steal his gun. Is everybody armed in Arcadia Bay now?" Probably in one way or another.

"Only the ones who shouldn't be. Like step-dildo. Until now."

"I'm not in the revolution yet, Che." How obscure of a reference could you make?

"You two are the revolution, Max. So we should figure out how to best use and abuse your powers with a test." Chloe took a sip of the beer bottle in her hand, then offered it to Max.

"Drink?" She asked.

"Yuck."

"You?" She asked, passing the bottle towards me.

"Hell yeah." I said, grabbing it and taking a swig.

"You are so cute. You haven't changed a bit. Okay, let's do this. Can you find five bottles while I prep the shooting range?" Chloe turned back to Max.

"Beer and guns? Nice combo."

"You can handle it. Now go find us five bottles? Pretty please?"

"Is there a cherry on top?" I asked.

"Only if it's popped." Chloe said back with a wink. I chuckled awkwardly, looking away.

"I have to find dirty-ass bottles while you chill? Not fair." Max complained.

"I have to prep the range, crybaby. And I've been tripping hard about where you got this rewind power, and...whatever you have."

"From God. Or the gods. So, bow." Max said.

"We can make the world bow. Are you ready for that?" Chloe asked.

"Oh, yes. Once I figure out exactly how my power works. A god must doth know these things."

"Hallelujah!" I said, taking another swig.

"Amen! And while you build an empire, I'm there to keep you on the path of badassness. And fun." Chloe added.

"Spin, rinse, and repeat. I'm just altering time and space. Oh, yeah, and history. No biggie."

"You already altered history by saving my life, smartass. Let's see what else you can do." Max took a while to wrangle a few bottles while me and Chloe traded off with ours.

"Thanks, Max." Chloe said, putting the bottles on a plank of wood. "Wait, one more for the road." She said, taking the last sip and putting it down.

"You're serious about this." Max deadpanned.

"We're going to shoot all these bottles without wasting a single bullet. Max, you have to help me aim. Show me the way, Max."

"I need to see you shoot first." Chloe shot and missed horribly. Then she warped back.

"Show me the way, Max."

"Aim a bit to the right."

"Sir, yes, sir!" The glass shattered as the bullet made contact.

"Oh, yes! Did you see that shit, Max?!"

"Duh."

"That was so fucking cool! Now for the second bottle." It continued like that for the next few bottles, then continued to trickshots.

"Can I see that? I wanna try something." I said.

"Sure." Chloe handed me the gun. I took aim and fired at the bottle, but nothing happened.

"Did you miss?" She asked after a moment. I snapped my fingers and glass shards flew in every direction.

"I can do it with guns too, apparently." I observed.

"I cannot believe this is for reals! My best friend and her friend are superheroes! Now it's your turn to bust a cap." Chloe said, giving the gun to Max.

"I don't know." Max's nose began to bleed again.

"Max, your nose. Damn."

"It is the powers." I said.

"I...don't...feel so super."

"Shit!" I yelped, catching her falling body.

"Max!" Chloe got down on her knees with me. We sat on the hood of a car with Max laying across our laps for a few minutes before she opened her eyes.

"You freaked me out there. Do you feel any better now?" Chloe asked her.

"A little. Thanks for helping me, just... give me a minute."

"Too much action for Arcadia?"

"Maybe not enough. This is kinda fun. Scary and stupid, but fun."

"Let us know when you feel okay." Chloe and I sat on the hood of a car, waiting for Max to give the go ahead. "Okay, looks like you're ready to lock and load."

"I don't know about this." Max hesitated as she took the revolver.

"Are you afraid of getting in trouble? Oh, boohoo, Max is afraid! I know you can handle this. And I'm here to guide you. Make us proud, sista!" Chloe pushed. Out of nowhere, a man approached us with a smile.

"Hey, it's the Three Musketeers!" He called way too loudly.

"Excuse us, Frank." Chloe stepped in front of us.

"Oh, sorry, Chloe. Don't let me get in the way of your bonding. I heard the gunshots and the breaking glass. It's cute that you're playing with guns. Just like me at your age." I got a feeling of history between the two.

"We're not anything alike, man." Chloe denied.

"We both need money. In fact, you need it so bad you owe me a shitload, don't ya, Chloe? Huh?" So he was the one Chloe owed money to, but why?

"You'll get your money." Chloe affirmed.

"Don't they all say that? Y'know, even when they're broke and acting tough." He got her there, that is a common trope. Frank turned to Max with a renewed grin.

"What're you hiding there, girlie? Let me see!" He chided, gesturing to her.

"Where did you get that bracelet?" Chloe asked, dumbfounded. I looked at his wrist and sure enough, there was a girly bracelet on his wrist.

"A friend. And it's none of your goddamn business. You're my business now and I-"

"That's Rachel's bracelet! Why the fuck are you wearing her bracelet?!" While Chloe yelled at him I slowly circled, hoping I went unnoticed.

"Calm yourself, alright? It was a gift."

"No, it wasn't! You stole that shit! Give it to me right now, asshole!" As Chloe made a grab for the item, Frank clicked open a knife.

"You better step back before you regret it, girl. I mean it. You want me to cut you, bitch?" He threatened, pointing it in her face. I was almost behind him when there was a click of a gun cocking. We all turned to the young girl, holding a revolver to Frank.

"Please... please step back." Max begged weakly.

"You're kidding. Put that down." Frank was calling her out. While he did that I repeatedly punched the back of his head. My eyes flicked over to Max when they detected movement, and the hammer struck. The gun was out of ammo. I decided now was a good time to finish it, so I snapped my fingers.

"Sorry." Max apologized, only for Chloe to hug her.

"You were awesome. Thanks for standing up for me...Let's blow. My secret lair didn't feel secret today. At least Frank is out for a few hours. He just wants his money." Chloe said. She started to walk away, but I stopped her.

"I think you forgot this." I said, handing her the bracelet.

"Thanks, dude." She wrapped it around her wrist. I knelt back down and took his knife, along with kicking him where the sun doesn't shine over, and over again. We moved off from the junkyard and headed down the train tracks, balancing on the beams for something to do.

"I still can't believe you pulled a gun on Frank. That was epic." Chloe said.

"It felt awful, I'm glad there was no bullets in there." Max responded.

"But, if he was dead, Chloe wouldn't be in danger." I told her.

"You can just rewind time in your hand and stick that barrel right up Frank's ass! You have the power!" Chloe continued the thought.

"You're gross. Don't fall." Max warned, briefly holding her hand.

"I'm just glad you were here." Chloe said.

"Me too... I think. Chloe, why the hell are you hanging around scary losers like Frank? It's weird." Max asked.

"Let's take a break and I'll talk." Chloe requested. We laid down on the tracks, looking up at the sky.

"Feels like a different world, huh? I wish we could stay forever." Chloe said.

"Can we build another pirate fort and keep the world out?" Max asked her.

"We need a new secret hangout. At least Frank wouldn't find us. Are you okay, Max?" Chloe asked the brunette.

"Seriously, Chloe, this is scary. What if Frank tries to track us down?" Max asked her.

"We beat his ass again." I deadpanned, leaning my head back.

"I'm sorry. But Frank isn't as hardcore as he fronts. All he cares about is his cash, stash, and mangy dog." Well, at least the guy has something to pay attention to.

"Chloe, did you see what just happened? I almost shot him! I know I could rewind, but, Chloe, this is not playtime. No more guns." Damn it, I had an idea for testing my powers.

"Max, I know. Crazy shit is the new normal for me. That's why I planned to leave Arcadia Bay without paying Frank off."

"Now, tell me exactly what's going on between you and Frank...does he have a last name?"

"Why is that necessary?" I asked, confused.

"Frank Bowers. He's just a dealer. Where I get my weed. The one in your joint, remember? Anyway, Frank and I kind of hung out." Thought so.

"Hung out? You don't mean you..."

"No, we didn't have sex. Gross, man. He never even tried. I just made the mistake of borrowing money so Rachel and I could bail outta here." Ah, so that was why she knew him.

"That's it?"

"No. I want to know how Frank got Rachel's bracelet. What do you think?" Chloe asked us.

"I think we have to be careful. And keep an eye on this guy. Without him eyeballing us, okay?"

"We're not spies, Max. And I don't think we'll be seeing him for a while. At least, not while he's unarmed." I grinned, pulling out the knife.

"It's so weird talking to you about this insane crap. We haven't hung out this much since we were tweens, and it's like no time has passed. I wish Rachel was here to meet you." Or I could just be ignored.

"Do you think that Rachel and I would have been friends?" Max asked.

"You're not that different. She had...has a great eye for images and for art. Plus, she's a smartass like you. We would all be hella best friends forever." Sure, why not.

"I know she must be as cool as you are. I have no doubt we'll meet soon."

"Railroad tracks always make me feel better. I have no idea why." Chloe commented randomly.

"Kerouac knew. It's the romance of travel and movement. the sound of the train whistle at night."

"How romantic." I fauned over the words sarcastically, leaning my head back with my hand to my forehead.

"Shut up, ass." Chloe chided, smacking me. "Look at the beat poet here."

"I'd rather be a good photographer." Max said.

"You are. You just have to stop being afraid." Chloe told her.

"Amen to that." I said. Max stood and looked at the sunset, taking out her camera. I noticed Chloe start to squirm next to me, and turned to her struggling to get her boot free.

"Help me!" She begged. I came up to a kneel, only to feel a rumbling in the ground.

"Oh shit. Train." I muttered. I started to pull on the beam, hoping to build enough stacked force to bend it upward. After a few harsh tugs I snapped my fingers. The bar raised enough for her to get her boot out, and we narrowly avoided the train. The only problem was that the large bump in the track made the train derail, crashing and rolling through the trees.

"Max, rewind!" I yelled, holding onto Chloe. Time warped around us, and back to before I bent the beam. Chloe looked around dazedly in my arms.

"Is that how it always looks when you do that?" She slurred, looking green.

"Pretty much." I answered.

"Yeah." Max said at the same time.

"You okay?" I ask her, letting her go hesitantly.

"You saved me again! Crazy, now we're totally bonded for life!"

"I'll take that as a yes." I said as the train flew past.

"Damn, that was close." Max commented, sitting in the grass.

"Aren't you glad I took you away to a nice quiet, desolate spot?" Chloe asked us.

"Absolutely, couldn't be more content." I said, playing off of her nonchalantness.

"It was cool to spend time in your lair, but we have to get back to school before our next class." Max said as we started heading back to the junkyard.

"Since you're the mysterious superheroes, I'll be your faithful chauffeur and companion."

"That works wonderfully." I said.

"Our powers might not last, Chloe." Max warned.

"That's okay. We will, forever." I hoped we would. It started to rain on the drive back, and I had a feeling something awful was going to happen, and soon.

"Thanks for the ride, Chloe. Right on time for our art lesson." Max thanked as we got out.

"Thanks for coming with me. Sorry to be so boring." Chloe said.

"Trust me, it was anything but." I replied.

"Nothing exciting ever happens to us, right?" Max continued her joke.

"Listen, your rewind power has to be connected to that snow yesterday. That might explain your tornado vision."

"Explain what? Snow equals a ginormous twister that takes out Arcadia Bay? You're high." Max said.

"Same here, but that makes sense to me." I agreed.

"Wake up, Max. You saved my life twice now. You altered the course of my destiny, yours, and whoever! Do you know about Chaos Theory?"

"Uh, it means 'shit happens', right?"

"No, 'crazy shit happens'. Because it can. And will."

"It kind of ties into the butterfly effect. Something small can turn into something big in the future." I continued the thought.

"Why me? I'm just a geek girl in some small town."

"A perfect example of 'strange attractors'. Don't they teach you kids anything at Blackwell? We have a tornado, rewind power, and freak snow. Hello, Armageddon! So let's party with your power, rock star!"

"Like you said, Professor Price: a superhero needs a sidekick."

"How can it be such a shitty week and yet one of the best of my life?"

"Because we're back in action again!" Max said.

"Plus one." I added quietly. Chloe drove away while we headed inside. The halls seemed even more crowded than usual, to the point of pushing and shoving to move. While we shuffled our way to class I tripped over someone's shoe, falling and pushing Kate Marsh. It was one of those times I was thankful that no one could feel me when I touched them.

"I'm gonna go use the bathroom." I said, turning around. After business was taken care of I came back out and pushed my way to class, passing a crying Kate on her way out of the school building.

"What's wrong with Kate?" I asked as I sat down.

"Her and Mister Jefferson had an argument in the hall. He accused her of making the video to get attention."

"Asshat. She doesn't need that." We both noticed Kate crying as she walked towards the dormitories. David stood behind a tree, taking photos of her.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." I said, making to stand.

"Sit down, Nick." Mister Jefferson ordered, closing the door. I felt helpless as I sat at the table, the teacher rambling on about chiaroscuro. Suddenly a student burst into the room and said something was going on at the girl's dorm. I stood and pulled Max with me, sprinting from the room.

"Nick, what are you doing?" She asked as I shoved through the crowd going out of the doors.

"Saving Kate!" I yelled over the crowd, letting go of her to speed up. Max and I slammed through the doors and flew up the stairs while having to rewind over and over again, seeing Kate fall from the roof. We burst through the door to the roof right before Kate leapt off. Max's nose was bleeding, and she seemed dizzy, but she pushed through.

"What are you doing here, Max?" Kate asked, backing towards the edge. Max tried to rewind again, but she was too weak. I took a step towards her to try and talk. "Stop! Don't come near me!" I took another hesitant step towards her.

"Seriously, don't come near me. I will jump." Kate threatened.

"Okay, okay. I'm right here. Kate, please." Max pleaded, wiping her nose.

"Oh, Max, I know you want to help me. I love that you stepped up to David, but it doesn't matter now. Nothing matters." Kate said, backing up more.

"You matter. And not just to me, to us." Max said, gesturing to me.

"I do want to believe that." Kate trailed off.

"Kate, your life is still yours. And we can get through this together. Let me help." Max offered. "Like I helped by erasing all that crap people wrote on your room slate." Those things were stupid from the beginning.

"I'm glad to hear you worry about me. That makes me feel better." Good, progress.

"Of course I worry. You're my friend, Kate. I'll always be here for you. My new motto is 'Friends come first.'"

"I did feel better talking to you on the phone. I always feel like you really listen." Thank God she did.

"Kate, please trust me. Come stand by me, okay? I can help you now. I know I can."

"I know we don't talk much, but I want to help you too." I added.

"This morning I erased the weblink to the video It was written on the shower room mirror."

"Are you serious? Thank you so much!" Kate took a hesitant step forward.

"Kate, I'm gathering proof that Nathan Prescott drugged you. And you're not the only victim. So you have to help me take Nathan down."

"Nathan Prescott? That makes sense. He's a scumbag. You have proof now?"

"Soon. Then straight to the police. Think of it like we're cleansing Blackwell."

"You do have my back, Max. That's the first time I've felt hopeful in a week." She was getting happier, I could feel it.

"Good. We all need to have each other's backs. So I want you to come with me now." Max tried to coax her down. "Please, you don't have to do this."

"Max, I'm in a nightmare and I can't wake up... unless I put myself to sleep. Then everybody at Blackwell can post pics of my body; I'm already on the internet forever. No wonder they call it a 'web'; nothing can ever get out. Like my video... I wish I could go back in time and erase everything." My heart broke on those words, since we could do that to an extent.

"Kate, this is our chance to beat the bullies. That's the only way we can win against them."

"Can we really, Max? I don't believe in miracles anymore either."

"Now I do. You're part of the reason why. If you come down with me, I can tell you more."

"You're such a good person, Max. Even if you're full of crap."

"Forever. Can we hug on it?" She tried too hard, Kate took another step back. "Kate! You can't do this to all the people who care about you!"

"No, nobody cares about me. Nobody." Kate almost turned, but then my memory clicked. I snapped my fingers, and she was suddenly shoved forward into Max's arms. They both fell to the gravel, and I leapt in front of Kate to keep her from the ledge. Kate desperately squirmed until she elbowed Max in the face, I had no time to react as she pushed past me and dove off of the roof. Everything seemed slow as I leaned over the barrier and saw her hit the concrete. I backed away and slumped against the wall, tears brimming in my eyes.

"I don't understand. I tried, we tried. How did it end like this? Where did we go wrong?" I sobbed, wiping my eyes.

"Why did you have to push her? I almost had her." Max said in a raspy voice, on the verge of tears.

"I thought she was going to jump, so I shoved her and hoped you could hold her. It doesn't matter now, anyway. This event is final." I sighed and sobbed as Max's head slumped against my shoulder, she had passed out from blood loss.

AVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAV

 **AN: I feel bad about it, but I also know that if you only had one chance to stop someone from taking their life, there is a very high chance of saying the wrong thing. Kate's suicide in this story also gives a giant slap to the face for Nick, giving him the idea that his powers couldn't always save people. This chapter was extra long, as I didn't really pay attention to how long I was writing. The next chapter will probably be extra short, as it is the end of an episode in the game. As always, R and R, or give a like, maybe both?**


	6. chapter 6

"I know this isn't pleasant for any of us, but we have to go over what happened before Miss Marsh... before she did what she did. Officer Berry will be taking notes for the official police inquiry. I'm sure you'll give him your full cooperation. Such a tragedy, but there must be a reason for everything. We need to find out why Kate Marsh would be driven to such desperate action.

As principal of Blackwell Academy, I take my duties seriously. I take the well-being of every student more seriously. What happened today should never happen in a hall of wisdom and knowledge.

Mr. Madsen, as our head of security here, those roof doors should always be locked. That's just standard operating procedure. They were not. And that is indeed your responsibility.

Mr. Jefferson, I know you can't be expected to know what your students are going through, but Kate has assisted you in class, so you should've known something was amiss. Mr. Prescott, since you are responsible for the Vortex Club parties, and since Miss Marsh did attend your last party, you'll have to answer some more questions.

Miss Caulfield, Mister Lyons, why exactly were you on the roof with Kate Marsh? Did she tell you her plan? Or anything at all? Please, tell us everything." Principal Wells sat in his desk chair and slid a paper to sign toward us. I was just staring blankly into the eyes of the metal bird on his desk, lost in the memory of Kate's embrace of gravity.

"All I know is that Kate was at a party and Nathan dosed her. She got wasted and kissed some boys on a viral video without a clue."

"I dosed her? Without a clue? Have you seen the video? Whatever. Kate was loaded and playing the field—"

"You're a liar. You told Kate you took her to the emergency room!"

"I said I was going to take her to the ER. She sobered up eventually."

"Bullshit! Something happened to her, and you know it. How about we talk about you waving a gun in the girls' bathroom—"

"Hey, that's total slander! I could sue you and this school so fast! I already have a personal lawyer."

"Careful, Mr. Prescott. I have been told of this alleged gun incident. And I have to admit that the video in question was sent to me by multiple sources."

"Including me." David input. The ass was actually helpful for once.

"And since Mr Prescott does appear prominently in the video and was responsible for the party, I have no choice but to suspend him until further notice."

"Whatever. See you in court."

"Watch it, asshole. You still have to answer for a lot of shit." I muttered to him. Principal Wells continued the interrogation until Mister Jefferson persuaded him that we students didn't need a forum while grieving.

"Alright, you two, please sign here to confirm what you've told us. I'll continue this investigation from there." Principal Wells slides a document toward us, which we sign immediately. "Well, I think we know less now than when we started. We'll be assisting the police with further inquiries. I know this has been a stressful day, I wish I had the power to change it all for the better. So, thank you for coming in." Warren, Max and I sat on the steps, watching the sunset through the trees.

"I just... can't believe it. It's like it wasn't even real, watching her drop like a weight. I really thought we could save her, like superheroes."

"Come on, Max. Do not for a second blame yourself. Kate was on that roof for her reasons, not yours."

"I had her, but she shook me off."

"Stop it. You guys were the only ones with balls enough to run to the roof. You two were the only ones who cared."

"Yeah, we sure made a big fucking difference. Maybe if more people cared, better people than us."

"You're the best person around."

"Warren, I screwed up today."

"That makes no logical sense."

"Warren, I don't mean to sound weird, but there's something ominous going on at Blackwell."

"Today proves that."

"And I'm working on proof that Kate Marsh is connected to Rachel Amber, somehow. Along with Nathan and Mr. Madsen."

"I'm not a big conspiracy guy, but I wouldn't doubt it. Nathan did scare me yesterday and Madsen is a straight-up dickhead. So, what do you think is really happening?"

"What the hell is this?" Max gasped. I noticed it too. The setting sun was slowly being formed into a crescent. "The weather confirms this weird day. Feel that chill." Max said, rubbing her arms.

"Max, there was no eclipse scheduled today. I would know. I would." Anomalies were continuing to pop up in Arcadia Bay. First snow, then a solar eclipse. What else could happen in the span of a week?

"I believe you, Warren. I'll believe anything this week." We kept watching the sun go dark, unable to comprehend how this was happening. All I knew was Arcadia Bay was going to change forever by the end of the week, tornado or not.


	7. chapter 7

My phone buzzed by my ear, jolting me awake. I could still see Kate falling and landing, even while I slept.

' _Get your ass up, we're snooping in the school tonight._ ' Said the text from Chloe. I groaned, wishing I could just pretend it was on silent. Chloe was smart, however, so she sent a second text.

' _I might do something nice for the first person to show up. ;) Get out here._ ' I sighed, knowing it was bait. I had to take it though, so I got up and got dressed, grumbling about false promises the entire way to the front of the building. I saw a strand of blue hair sticking out from behind the large poster, and sighed.

"Chloe, probably not the best time to jumpscare someone. We just watched a friend commit suicide." I mumbled. She sighed before stepping out from her hiding spot.

"Fair enough, I just want to get this over with before anything else happens." She said, kicking the concrete awkwardly.

"Trust me when I say it, this week is gonna end horribly one way or another. I can't help but feel that someone close is gonna die. Soon." I sat and leaned against the sign.

"Do you know who?" She asked, sitting beside me.

"No, but it feels like it will almost kill us to see it happen. It's someone we know and care about, someone important to us." I said.

"Hey, what are you guys up to?" Max asked quietly.

"Waiting for you, and trying to figure out what we're gonna do... with any of this, really." I said, helping Chloe to her feet. "So, how are we getting in, exactly?"

"Drum roll, please..." I quietly smacked my knees in a mock roll. "I present the spare keys to Blackwell. Thank you, step-prick." I made an awful attempt at making a trumpet fanfare with my mouth, making the girls laugh.

"You are such a boss, Chloe!" Max hesitated slightly. "I just... don't want you to get into any more trouble."

"Look at all the trouble dropping in Arcadia Bay. At this point, who gives a fuck anymore? We're in it to win it, Max. Lead the way." We were almost to the steps when the door cracked open, voices on the other side. We skidded backwards and hid behind the sign again. I took out my phone and started recording, hoping to get anything useful.

"Thank you again _so_ much for helping me put together a portfolio." Victoria said to Mister Jefferson.

"Hopefully, the rest of the class will follow your lead. I'm sorry I was... distracted. As you know, it's not been a good day for Blackwell." One of the biggest under statements ever made in Arcadia Bay.

"I know this has been an awful day... and you can talk to me anytime, Mr. Jefferson." If she even dared to use what happened as foreplay...

"Thank you, Victoria." Mister Jefferson thanked, clearly not taking the bait. "I imagine... you're pretty upset over Kate as well."

"I'm, like, still in shock. I've never seen anybody die. I really cared about Katie." Chloe put a calming hand on my shoulder. I didn't realize I was shaking with anger until then.

"'Katie'? I had no idea you two were that close. Did she-?" Victoria quickly cut him off.

"Well, how does this affect the Everyday Heroes contest?"

"It doesn't. The contest is still a-go and I still have to pick the winner to best represent Blackwell. I've got all the photos except one from... Max." Jefferson informed her.

"I'll give you a one-word sneak preview of Max's photo: selfie." I stood and was about to walk into the light. "Listen, you've seen my entry, you know it's better than that. Wouldn't that be _so_ cool to hang out together in San Francisco, Mark?" Victoria was actually trying to seduce a teacher, how much of a whore could she be?

"Stick to Mr. Jefferson, Victoria, please? And, uh... I haven't picked a winner yet."

"Get denied, bitch." I grumbled quietly. Jefferson started to leave, but Victoria grabbed his arm.

"You already love my work, so it's not like you're playing favorites. Just imagine if you picked my photo, though. We would have to spend a _lot_ of time together. That could be... fun, don't you think?" She actually wanted to get into Jefferson's pants, I expected nothing less.

"I'm going to think that you didn't say any of that." Jefferson deflected her.

"You might as well choose me, otherwise I might have to tell people you offered to choose my photo for favors or something." And there was the golden ticket, or sentence.

"As a favor to your future, I'll also ignore that undisguised threat. This conversation is officially over, Miss Chase. I suggest you go back to your dorm now." Jefferson took his arm back and walked away.

"Wait!" She called after him. I stopped the recording and put my phone away.

"Just when I think Victoria can't get _any_ more evil." Max commented after Victoria went past us to the dorms.

"Shit is about to get real at Blackwell." Chloe said.

"Let's go find out." Max said, grabbing Chloe's hand and trailing us to the door. We entered and turned on our lights.

"Chloe the Keymaster." Max commented.

"You know it."

"Dude, I don't know about this, we're both already in _so_ much trouble."

"Not to mention the weed Nick brought into my room. Joking." She added when she saw my unamused face.

"I'm serious. We're not kids anymore. We're breaking and entering."

"I didn't see anything break." I said.

"Yeah, if I have a key, how can it be breaking? They can't charge us for just entering!" Chloe agreed.

"They actually can, it's past curfew." I corrected.

"Shut up, Nick." Chloe grumbled.

"I'm serious. We could go to jail." Max pressed.

"At least we won't be killed by a tornado." I mumbled.

"Not if I'm related to the head of Blackwell security. Step-shit will not want me in the hands of the local police, so we better find out what's in the principal's office first. You can rewind if we get caught, right? You have mad powers, Max." Chloe made a good point, I voiced that thought.

"Tell that to Kate." Max said feebly.

"That wasn't your fault, Max. You know that. I should have just let you talk her down." I said, taking the blame. Chloe unlocked the office while we talked.

"Come on. One more door and our work here is done." Chloe said confidently. "That's it!" Chloe tried the key, but it didn't fit the lock. "What the fuck? The security officer should have the key to the principal's office!"

"He's hiding shit. Like _everybody_ here." Max accused.

"Well, now we definitely have to get this door open. Believe it or not, I know a little about lock-picking." She hesitated before adding on to the sentence. "Thanks to Frank." She crouched down to the door with the Bobby pin and paper clip. "I might as well test out my thief skill."

"Aren't you already legendary level one hundred?" I asked.

"Unlike you, I don't use mods. Now let me concentrate."

"Go for it, nerd. We're already in this deep."

"Well, you could look for the key. Just in case." Chloe suggested.

"Why, yes, I could." Max searched the room for a few minutes, but to no avail. "No key for thee. We have to find another way in."

"Guess I didn't spend enough time with Frank. But I'll use my DIY lock-pick tools while you come up with a better plan." Chloe kept working.

"My plan has a name." Max said, taking out her phone.

"Hey, Warren, you busy?"

A moment passes.

"Just bubble-hearth, you'll be okay. Listen, I need your physics expertise, stat. Without naming names, if somebody had access to the art and science labs and wanted to construct a device that would, say, open a locked door, would you maybe kinda know how?" She might as well just say 'we're breaking into something'! "Huh? No, I'm just asking for fun."

More silence.

"Thanks, Science Guy." She paused and her eyes widened.

"Uh, n-no, no, no, stay. We need you as backup. Just send the text instructions _now_."

Warren says something else.

"Yes, I'm still _all-in_ to 'Go Ape' with you at the drive-in. Thanks for the help."

"So is 'go ape' code or something?" I earned a glare for that.

"This sucks ass! Goddamn door!" Chloe punched said door, resulting in a loud bang.

"Hey, the door isn't at fault, it's the lock." I chastised.

"Try not to wake up everybody at Blackwell!" Max warned before her phone buzzed.

"Sorry, Max, I got nothin'. What about your plan?"

"I'm gonna go put it together. Can you stay here and not get caught?" Max asked.

"I might get on the other side of that door before you, Lupin." Chloe challenged.

"The race is _on_. See you soon."

"Y'all are stupid." I said, leaning on the wall.

"And _why_ are we stupid, Mister Lyons?" Chloe asked me, standing to look intimidating.

"Allow me to show you." I said calmly, stepping up to the door. I then proceeded to kick it repeatedly, leaving a shoe mark on it.

"Max, get in the room and rewind once I snap. We won't have long." I snapped my fingers and the door practically exploded, setting off the alarm. Max ran in and the world warped. The door pieced itself together and Chloe went back to picking the lock.

"This'll be fun. Whenever you're ready, Max." I called through the door. Chloe gave me an odd look before the door opened.

"Welcome to my domain." Max greeted.

"You are magic! I have no clue how the hell you got in there, but you did it, sista!" I cleared my throat, only getting an eye roll from them.

"The company I keep. Now, let's find what we want and beat it. My powers only go so far."

"Man, I can see why the principal locks this room up. Fancy faux art crap. He must want everybody to know he has money, but no taste." Chloe turns the desk lamp on and eyes the bird. "How can you trust somebody who has a fucking bronze bird in his office? I'm glad I was expelled."

"Yes, if only the principal had a Monet or Picasso you'd still be at Blackwell."

"Eat me." Chloe responded.

"Dont tempt." I joked.

"I'm gonna pilfer the papers on this ugly-ass desk." Chloe ignored the comment, sitting in the chair. "Okay, sure, it's ugly, but damn, is it a cozy chair!" Chloe rested her feet on the desk and leaned back. "This is your chance to truly get all deductive 'n' shit, Sherlock! Find us some clues about Rachel, or Kate, or Nathan. Anybody!" She sat up and turned on the computer, beginning to search.

"I'm on the case." Max said. She started to look through files while I sat in the interrogation chair on the other side of the desk.

"Max, you better come check out these files." Max came back over while I scooted my chair around. "Nathan accused Rachel of bringing drugs on campus? And my step-troll went along because he thinks Rachel was a bad influence on me. Assholes."

"If David is teaming up with Nathan Prescott...that's a bad sign."

"You think?" I asked rhetorically.

"'Nathan Prescott the Third.' Oooh, he's so money. And you know the Prescotts dropped major bank to bury Nathan's real file. Look, it reads like a rap sheet. Bad grades, teacher complains, secret probation. But I was expelled?

"At least Nathan was finally suspended. Check out that note. Open it." Max pointed to a file on the screen.

"That's just some crazy drawing." Chloe downplayed.

"It's not a drawing, look. 'Rachel in the dark room, Rachel in the dark room,' Over and over. That's it."

"That's... fucked up. What does this even mean? Nathan is truly psychotic. I know he has something to do with Rachel missing."

"Whoa, listen to this, 'David M. always asks what's going on in my head, David M. always helps me follow those he follows.' Pretty cryptic."

"No, it sounds like they've formed some sort of weird team, 'The Super He-Bros'."

"Jesus, David was stalking Kate, hassling me, and now we know he was all over Rachel too."

"Oh, we are so going into his garage files. Plus I'm getting a little paranoid in here. We got our info, let's bail. But maybe we shouldn't leave without a gift." Chloe smiled fondly.

"No, you are not taking the cozy chair."

"Definitely not the chair." I said at the same time.

"Do your powers include mind-reading?" She asked us. "Or did you just rewind because I tried to steal the chair? Shit, I'm confused."

"It's the powers of best friendship. We know how you roll. We should definitely get out of here, we pressed our luck enough."

"Yeah, let's bail." Chloe stopped when she looked inside a desk drawer. "Hullo, what have we here? Holy shit, jackpot! Cha-ching!" She found money in the desk. A lot of money.

"Wowser, that's a lot for the 'handicapped fund'."

"Damn." I muttered.

"Dude, there's five thousand dollars here. I could pay Frank back tonight! This will chill him out after you almost, you know, shot him. Are you going to make a big issue out of this? Or just rewind and take the greenbacks for yourself? I hope you do that instead of lecturing me." Chloe said, happy to take.

"That's a low blow, Chloe." I said.

"You really want to take money from the handicapped fund? I know you need to pay Frank back, but we've got our powers to protect you, right?"

"There's a lot of power in that horse-choking wad of cash... but yes, Moral Max is right again. I guess. Let's get the hell out of this office morgue." Chloe put the cash back and stood, turning off the lamp.

"That impish look scares me." Max commented when she saw Chloe's face.

"Care for a midnight swim? The Blackwell pool is ours." Chloe offered.

"Uh, what?" I asked.

"Swimming? You want to take that risk now?" Max said as well.

"You didn't let me take that money to pay off Frank, so if he pops a cap in my skull at least allow me to have a little carefree fun for a few minutes. Splish splash?"

"You're right. We hella deserve it. Splish splash!" Max agreed.

"Did you actually just say 'hella'? I think I'm a good bad influence on you." Chloe laughed.

"You girls are going to be the death of me." I sighed, following them towards the smell of chlorine.


	8. chapter 8

"We're in the Otters' lair!" Max harshly whispered.

"Big fucking deal. I want that heated water!" Chloe waved off.

"We still have to play it cool, okay? Two of us still go to school here."

"You can own this hellhole once you figure out your rewind power." We headed further down the corridor until we got to the locker rooms.

"Boys or girls?" Chloe asked.

"Girls, of course." Max said, astounded.

"Girls? Ooh la la. Close your eyes, Nick." Chloe chided. "Let me check to see if the pool's heated." We entered the selected locker room and got to the pool. "Max, try to find the light for the pool. I want to see the sharks!" Chloe faked excitement.

"Otters don't like sharks. They bite." Max deadpanned.

"So do I, hit that light!" Jesus Christ, all the innuendoes. Max disappeared for a minute before the pool lit up blue. I turned away as Chloe stripped into her underwear, keeping my eyes to the water as she jumped in.

"Oh yeah, baby! Feels like a hot tub! Too bad you made me feel like the Queen of Assholes because I wanted that cash stash." Chloe said, wading through the warm water. Max stood on the edge watching, while I took my shoes off and took my phone out to put my feet in. "Tell me you're not going to stand there watching me like a zombie."

Max just smiled, resulting in Chloe splashing her with water. "Don't you dare." Max warned through a laugh.

"Come stop me, hippie!" Chloe challenged.

"Okay, you asked for it!" I turned away again while Max took her clothes off. "Cowabunga!" She cheered as she dove in.

"Why look, an otter in my water! Duuuun dun, duuuuun dun, dun dun dun dun dun dun." Jaws theme, of course.

"You're so obvious. And I still get freaked out by that movie, so stop. I can't even watch any of those shark shows." They both looked at me, though I still was looking down at the clear blue water. I didn't notice the silence until someone tapped me on the leg. I looked over to see a dripping wet, scantily clad Chloe leaning on my left thigh.

"Gonna join us, Point-break?" She asked quietly.

"Trust me, I am way too awkward to get undressed to my underwear in front of two already undressed girls, let alone swim with them." I said honestly. She sighed before getting up a bit higher, wrapping her arms around my neck.

"Come on, it'll be fun. I promise you'll have a good time." She whispered, getting closer. That was when I felt a sudden push on my back, along with a pull on my neck. I yelped in surprise before my face hit the water, gasping and grabbing the edge to regain myself. The two girls were dying of laughter, Max laying on the pool deck.

"Ha ha, very funny. You're lucky my phone wasn't in my pocket." I grumbled to myself.

"Man, you've got it _bad_." Chloe drew out the last word to emphasise.

"I get it, alright?" I said, pulling my shirt off and throwing it at Max, whom it hit with a wet slap.

"Alright, I deserve that." She giggled, throwing the shirt behind her.

"Come on Max, us otters gotta stick together." I reasoned.

"I'll just rewind and harpoon you. Otter's revenge!" Max said to Chloe, getting back in the water.

"Cheater!" She cried, splashing her.

"Yeah, you would know about that!" We fooled around for a little while, eventually mulling over into a relaxed silence while we floated on our backs.

"I wish Rachel was here. She would totally love being in here at night. Wish you guys had met each other." Chloe said.

"We will. With all this stuff going on, I'm starting to think everything is related." Max cemented. "And I want to find out why for Kate's sake. She didn't deserve to die."

"Your power is changing everything, Max. Especially you. I can already tell. You're not so chickenshit anymore." We swam to the pool border and crossed our arms on it.

"Thanks, girlfriend."

"You know what I mean. You're becoming like this force of nature."

"More like luck of nature. Come on, my power failed trying to rescue Kate. Maybe I'm just stumbling back and forth in time. For what reason?"

"You didn't stumble when you saved me, Max." I stopped and thought about that. She found her powers when she saved Chloe. Chloe, the girl who had almost died how many times in two days. The butterfly effect existed because one small change could make a huge difference. A butterfly flapping it's wings turns into a hurricane. I refused to finish that train of thought.

"Thank God. But... what if I had? What if? You and Kate would both be dead."

"There's no point in thinking about what could have happened, but what should happen next." I said.

"Ever the poet, Mister Lyons." Chloe said in an official voice. "So it's time to start moving forward in time. And we're obviously connected since without me you would have never discovered your power, right?"

"Absolutely. You make me feel like I know what I'm doing."

"And you make me feel like I have a reason for still being in Arcadia Bay."

"I hope so."

"Well I do, okay? So just listen to Captain Chloe."

"Aye aye." I agreed.

"I'm trying. As long as we don't waste this power." Max said.

"Stop being so goddamn humble. You're like the smartest, most talented person I've ever known."

"More than Rachel Amber?" That was a bit of bad timing.

"Dude, I'm not her groupie, okay? And I'm sure you have Blackwell bros all over you, like Warren." Oh boy, the talk started.

"Warren is nice." Max said hesitantly.

"Nice? Ouch. That means 'Friendzone'."

"Definitely friendzoned." I agreed.

"No, he's really cool. It was so sweet when he stood up to Nathan. But I haven't told him about my rewind power."

"No worries. Once you get over yourself, you're going to make the world bow."

"As long as you guys are there with me."

"Don't look so sad, we're never leaving you." We swam back into the water, though the mood seemed ruined.

"Now I'm getting cold in here." Max stated.

"Because we're yapping instead of attacking each other, otter-versus-shark style." Chloe paused for a minute. "I think I've had my pool experience for the year, let's jet."

"Let's call it a draw. I'm gonna freeze my ass off when I get out." Max agreed. We all got out and got our clothes back on. "Gross, I feel like we just went swimming in Chlorine Bay."

"Don't even start." I warned, holding my phone in my soaked hand.

"You look cute with your hair soaked in chemicals." She said to Max as she ruffled mine.

"Thanks, you would know." The door opened behind us, a guard strolling in once he noticed the lights were on.

"Hide." We said to each other, splitting up into the locker rooms. We got to the door when we heard a familiar voice on the other side.

"Make sure you cover the whole perimeter!" He said.

"Are you shitting me?" Max asked. I went into the boy's locker room while Chloe and Max went into the other. In the locker room was a set of vertical lockers that had no bottoms, therefore we used it as a lost and found. I squeezed inside and settled my breathing, closing the doors enough to seem locked. A separate guard opened the door, shining the light around the room. He searched the whole room, but found nothing. The man turned around and left the room. I waited for the sound of a second door closing before I got out of the lockers. I walked back to the pool to see the girls waiting. We had a three way hug while laughing quietly.

"We are so invisible! Let's bail!" Chloe said. We ran out of the school, and turned to go back to the dorms. A security guard was standing watch at the entrance.

"Wait, turn around, they're coming! We have to find another way out!" Max whispered. We climbed down and headed for Chloe's truck.

"This is bullshit. You can't go back to your dorms now, you're Blackwell fugitives! Crash at my place tonight." Chloe ordered.

"You want me to crash where the Blackwell security officer lives so I'll be safe? Okay!" Max replied sarcastically.

"Into the car!" Chloe said, jumping in with me right behind. Max hesitated for a moment. "Get in!" Chloe started the truck and drove off into the night. "Hahaha! Later, fuckers! Max, you rock! We are so fucking awesome!"

"Yes, we so are." Max agreed. I was way too tired to really remember getting to the Price house, or climbing in through the window as to not draw attention to ourselves. I do remember what happened after I woke up, however.


	9. chapter 9

"Photobomb!" I jolted awake with the sudden shout, looking around in a confused daze.

"Photo-hog!" Max countered, a click and flash following.

"What the hell, girls?" I slurred.

"Sorry, but you should probably get up anyway." Max apologized.

"You're not really sorry, are you?" I asked rhetorically.

"Not one bit." Chloe answered, the two lying back. I had slept in the chair, as I was the gentleman who wouldn't sleep in the same bed as a girl unless circumstances arose.

"It feels like a different world from yesterday." Max commented.

"We left a skid mark on Blackwell last night." Chloe agreed.

"Like it needs another one. I'd like to do something good for my school and Arcadia Bay. I can't even submit my photo to represent. I just don't want to be rejected."

"Every great artist gets rejected before they get accepted. So you have to enter a photo."

"Even though I'm pimping the school and town you want to torch?"

"Come on, I don't want to see Arcadia Bay burned to the shore, I just say shit like that because I've been trying to get out of here since...since you left, basically. If I could find Rachel, then pay Frank off, I'm still leaving to start a whole new life." Chloe grabbed the remote control for her Hi-Fi and turned on the music.

"Wish we could just hang out all morning like we used to. Maybe we should get up, we have to get back to Blackwell soon."

"Oh, do the school kids have a test today?" She mocked.

"You got any beer, if you don't mind me asking?" I asked Chloe, reasoning that I might as well stay awake.

"Bottom drawer on my desk, toss me one?" I opened it and did as she asked. I pulled a few times on both bottles beforehand and snapped, popping the caps off and bending them in half.

"I'm starting to feel like going to Blackwell every day is a test. I just need to get on my regular school schedule again." Max said while we did this.

"Oh, that's so not happening." I said, earning odd looks. I sat in my chair and took a sip. "I mean, we have superpowers, and we're uncovering a giant conspiracy involving all of Arcadia Bay. Not to mention we have a crazy drug dealer on our asses. All of that, and your top priority is getting back to normality?" Out loud the idea seemed profound, highly improbable.

"Well, I don't see your powers having an effect on you." Max countered.

"Nick, you're bleeding!" Chloe exclaimed, pointing to my hand. I looked at it and saw a deep rigid cut in my thumb that was pouring blood.

"So I am." I stated bluntly.

"What happened?" Max asked, confused.

"It seems that my powers do have an effect on me. Anything I do I feel it as well. So now I have the wound I would get by ripping two bottle caps off of bottles." Chloe left the room for a minute and came back with gauze, wrapping my finger in it.

"There." She said, sitting back on the bed.

"Thanks." I replied. Max got up and went to her clothes to get dressed.

"Ew. Still reeks like a chlorine factory." Max wrinkled her nose in disgust, putting her jeans down.

"Don't start!" I warned, lifting a finger.

"See if you can find a suitable outfit in my fashion hole." Chloe suggested pointing to her closet.

"Ew, fashion hole." I said, getting a pillow thrown at me in response.

"Okay, time for some Chloe cosplay." Max muttered, opening the closet.

"Hey, there you go! Rachel left a bunch of her clothes with me. She's your size."

"But not quite my style."

"Max, you don't have a style yet. At least give it a try. You can always rewind back to your chlorine brand T-shirt and generic jeans." Chloe stood and walked over to her.

"You suck. I like my shirt and jeans. But it would be cool to try on Rachel's clothes, just to see if they fit." Max relented.

"Stop second-guessing yourself, Max! Put this on and let your inner punk-rock girl come out! You can afford to take chances! Whenever and whatever you want to try. For example, I dare you to kiss me!" I sat bolt upright and stared at the two, eyes wide.

"What?" Max blurted out.

"I double dare you. Kiss me now." The world seemed to pause for a moment, then it happened. Max put her hands on Chloe's shoulders, leaning forward and pressing their lips together. Chloe jumped back in surprise, quickly regaining herself.

"Damn, you're hardcore, Max! Now I can text Warren and tell him he doesn't stand a chance. Unless he's into girl-on-girl action." She stuttered out, going back to her bed.

"You're such a dork." Max giggled, turning back to the closet.

"What guy isn't into it? I certainly am." That earned me another pillow to the face, making me spill my beer.

"Where are you getting all of these pillows?" I asked, dumbfounded. She quirked a brow while I removed my shirt, lying it on the chair. I moved over and took Max's spot on the bed, making sure to keep my distance.

"You'll never know." She answered, making room for me. "By the way, you better not rewind and take that kiss back. You know I'm hotter than those Seattle art-holes, right?" Chloe said to Max, who only chuckled in response.

"Well, what should I do now? I can't go to school smelling like chlorine and alcohol." I said, taking another swig. I kept my eyes down while Max changed into Rachel's clothes.

"Steal a shirt from my Step-douche, he rarely wears the ones in the bottom." She said.

"I'll get it later." I said, taking another sip. We turned when Max walked over, striking a pose.

"Lookin' sick, Max. A couple tats, some piercings and we'll make a thrasher out of you yet." I nodded, taking a large swig.

"Ready for the mosh pit, shaka brah." I spit my beer slightly, spilling it over myself while laughing uncontrollably.

"Maybe not. Go on down and say hi to Joyce. Free breakfast! I have to, er, wake 'n' bake first." Chloe laid back after Max closed the door, giving me a glare. I took a second to swallow the drink, then continued the laughter.

"Dude, what is wrong with you?" Chloe asked as she rolled a blunt.

"Shaka brah." I barely got out in between my fits of laughter.

"How much did you drink?" She chuckled, striking a match and lighting the spliff.

"Not nearly enough for this. By the way, remind me to get you a lighter, matches are so weak." I was calming down.

"Thanks, but I'm fine with it." She replied. Both of us eventually sobered up enough to talk normally, though we had only one thing to talk about. And that one thing was a very sore subject, in my mind at least.

"So, I've been noticing that I've been lead into things by use of seduction, and false promises. Care to comment?" I asked hesitantly, taking a drink.

"I'd rather not." Chloe answered flatly.

"Alright." I agreed, lying back.

"I have to admit, you've definitely acted more my age than Max's. Unlike most you actually compromise with us." She complemented.

"Thanks, I guess." I responded.

"Don't let it go to your heads, though. Now then, get dressed and get downstairs, can't have suspicions arise." She ordered. I groaned and rolled over to lay face down.

"One quick puff?" I asked. She sighed, handing the blunt to me.

"What have I done to you two?" She asked herself.

"Gave us a new purpose." I answered, exhaling smoke.

"Yeah, but it can't be anything good." She said.

"Trust me, it's better than anything I hoped for. These past three days have been the most hectic, catastrophic days of my life. Yes, something horrible happened, but that doesn't mean the bad has to last forever. You've shown me that." I looked at the blunt before passing it back to her. She didn't take it, only looked at me for a moment. She took the roll and threw it across the room, and enveloped me in a hug. I hugged back, and I felt her start to shake.

"What's wrong?" I asked, worried I said something.

"You're one of the three people who get me." She sighed. I tightened the hug, but she noticed something else tight and let go.

"Sorry." I apologized, looking away.

"Don't be, it's a natural thing." She muttered.

"We should go get breakfast, before Max eats it all."

"What are you talking about? You're gonna have the munchies _bad_ later."

"You know, I didn't think about that."

"Now go get dressed, my mom would flip if she saw me come downstairs with a half naked teenager." I chuckled and crossed the hall quietly. I got the shirt and a pair of jeans from the dresser and got dressed in the bathroom. Chloe and I headed downstairs and sat at the table across from Max.

"What kept you two?" Max asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't even start." Chloe said. I looked at her, shocked. "Get ready to go to the garage."

"That's my line." I blurted out.

"Anyway, did you guys have a bonding session about how fucked up I am?" Chloe asked loud enough for Joyce to hear.

"It's not always about you." Max said, catching on.

"Chloe, please. It's too early to start picking a fight. Eat instead." Joyce pleaded, setting food in front of us. "Now stop whispering or I'll know you're talking about me."

"Stop being so nosey, mother. Jeez, I can't do anything around here without everybody getting up in my shit."

"No one can even joke with you, Chloe, you fly off the handle like that." I wish there was another way to distract her. I looked at Max and tried to whisper the new plan. She used her rewind and sent me back upstairs to when I was getting my clothes. I got dressed in the room and punched the window a couple of times. I felt a bit bad for the damage, but it was better than worsening the relationship. I stopped Chloe before we went down and explained the plan to her. She nodded and we sat down at the table calmly. Max and I glanced at each other before Joyce came over.

"Wow, busy night or something? Y'all look tired as all hell." She said, passing out food.

"Yeah, it's been a rough couple of days." I answered. As she turned to head back to the stove I snapped my fingers quietly and grunted in pain. There was a loud smash from upstairs, and Joyce ran to see what it was.

"Go." Chloe said to Max while I clutched my hand. "What's wrong?" She asked, lifting my closed fist up.

"Glass window with bare hands, not the best idea." I felt way too stupid for what happened, so I said nothing more. Max came back in after a few minutes and sat back down. Before she could say anything the door opened, and David walked in.

"Nice breakfast." He commented.

"David, you're back already?" Joyce asked, surprised.

"I have to take a nap after writing up vandalism reports last night." We three looked at each other with blank expressions.

"What happened?" Joyce asked.

"Some little shitass punks broke in to the swimming pool. This is what happens at these P.C. bullshit colleges. Entitled students taking over the campus!"

"Do you know for sure it was Blackwell students?"

"Who else would do it? And I'm going to bust them." David then realized he had an audience. "Figures you'd be here. Is that your Rachel Amber Halloween costume?" He asked, pointing to Max.

"You know more about her than me!" Max defended.

"No, you two and Chloe think you know more than anybody. Like all teenagers."

"Leave Max alone, David. Stop threatening students." Joyce demanded.

"He threatens them with surveillance cameras. So he can spy on everybody, like he spies on all of us here." Chloe added.

"Don't start, Chloe." David warned.

"Yeah, I'm just always starting shit, right? You're a total paranoid, David."

"Not now, Chloe."

"You used to call me a loser for getting kicked out of Blackwell. So who's the loser now, David? Who haven't you accused or harassed? Between your investigations into Rachel and Kate, what have you done besides get in trouble?"

"You're a bully, David. I saw you harass Kate Marsh when she was going through hell. You could have totally helped her. Everybody at Blackwell is a suspect to you, except for Nathan Prescott... That's why the students and faculty don't like you. You even threatened me. I do respect your service, but you don't respect anybody." Max growled.

"Chloe was using his drugs. That's illegal." He pointed at me.

"So is spying on people in your family and at your work. Why do you have photos of Kate Marsh and Rachel Amber in your files anyway?"

"What? Is this true, Max? Yes, David, why do you have these files at all? I find this very disturbing." Joyce was turned on David, and I can say I feel a bit sorry for him.

"I do not have to take this kind of interrogation. Not from you punks!"

"Punks? You're the one who stalked Kate Marsh while she ran to kill herself yesterday. Why does Nathan Prescott say that you help him watch who he wants to?" I asked.

"Where did you hear that?" David asked.

"Nathan's file." I said. "David M. always asks what's going on in my head. David M. always helps me follow those he follows."

"You motherfucker." David growled.

"Maybe you should calm down." Joyce firmly suggested.

"Oh, you're turning on me now? Of course, women always stick together. Well, screw you!"

"You sexist asshole." I said flatly.

"David, you better go to a hotel until we figure this out." Joyce was actually kicking him out.

"You can't kick me out of my own home!" David refused.

"It's my home, David. Paid for and in my name. You know the law, right?"

"I thought I knew a lot of things, like when I'm outflanked." David had given up.

"Have a nice day." Chloe said sweetly.

"Chloe, for once... just please shut up." Joyce pleaded, sitting at the table. We looked at each other and decided that it wasn't the best place to be at the moment. We silently got our things from the bedroom and left.

"So, what did you find on his laptop?" Chloe asked while we drove to the diner.

"Listen, when I went through David's laptop, I found pictures of Rachel and Frank...being more than friends." Max decided to bite the bullet.

"Right. No way, Max. She was just posing to tease Frank."

"If you're not gonna believe me, why don't we check out what Frank has in his RV?"

"What's that gonna prove?"

"Frank had Rachel's bracelet. What else does he have in there?"

"Motherfucker better not have anything. For his sake." We parked and walked up to the trailer.

"Let's check the door. Frank gets so wasted he sometimes forgets to lock it."

"I can't believe you hung out with him."

"Not anymore."

"We have to be casual ninjas here." Chloe said, trying the door. Frank's dog started barking inside immediately. "Shitballs. Okay, here's the plan. I'll go to the diner and distract Frank by telling him I have his money, but he needs to come with me. Then you come in and rewind so Frank doesn't see me, then you can tell Frank he needs to check out his RV and then you rewind after you get the key, and... uh... and..."

"Chloe, I got this. Be right back." Max started walking towards the diner.

"Don't let my epic plan get in the way of yours. I'll try to scrounge up a Scooby snack to distract his mangy mutt." Chloe muttered to herself.

"You know she keeps what she has on her person. She can just steal his keys and rewind back." I explained.

"Right, need to remember that." She said. I saw time begin to warp, then Max left the diner.

"Told you." I said bluntly.

"I should've known. The Amazing SipderMax." Chloe said when Max held the key up.

"I couldn't have done it without Frank." Max said. Chloe hesitated when she took the keys.

"You'll need this." She said, handing Max a dog bone.

"How the fuck?" I asked her, only getting a wink in answer.

"On your mark, get set, throw!" She opened the door and Max threw the bone over the roof and into the road. The dog gave chase, and the sound of a horn and a loud thump came soon after.

"Oh shit." I sighed.

"Oh no, please do not let that poor dog be hit." Max begged.

"I bet he's fine, I'm sure he is. Come on, we definitely don't have time to waste now." Chloe opened the door and walked in, Max and I trailing behind.

"Damn, and I thought my room was a shithole." Chloe said, looking around the vehicle.

"Well, I mean, he is a drug dealer." I reasoned.

"And a creep." Max added.

"Frank has issues, but he's not creepy. At least, I didn't think so until I saw him with Rachel's bracelet." Chloe defended, sitting in the driver's seat. "Oh, we could cruise everywhere in this bad boy. Can you see us heading down the coast to Big Sur and beyond?" She asked us.

"After this week, I wouldn't mind a vacation." I said, sitting in the passenger's seat.

"Yes, we'd be tearing up the highway. And you'd probably want me to kiss you again. Guys, we're on a schedule. We need clues about Rachel." Max reminded us.

"I know, just daydreaming." Chloe said solemnly.

"Hey, future prospects. Right?" I asked, trying to cheer them up. Max walked into the bedroom and looked around while I still sat.

"Nick, you still have the knife, right?" She called. I stood and went back to give it to her. I then sat across from Chloe at the small table and leaned back against the booth seat. There was a quiet chink from Max, and then silence. The girl then nervously came in and handed Chloe the book in her hand. She looked over the pages with watery eyes, quickly turning to anger.

"It makes me ill that Rachel posed like this for Frank, or wrote him love letters. I can't believe she was banging Frank! Rachel straight up lied to my face! Why didn't she say anything?" Chloe slammed the scrapbook shut.

"Because she knew how you would react." Max answered quietly.

"Then she wasn't much of a friend, huh? Just another person who shits all over me! Why does everybody in my life let me down? My dad gets killed, you bail on me for years, my mother gloms onto step-fucker, now Rachel betrays me." She said the last words with low venom.

"Chloe, Rachel is missing. Nobody betrayed you." Max tried to reason with her.

"Bullshit, who hasn't?! Fuck everybody!" She shouted, standing and storming out of the RV. I got up and quickly followed after her, hoping I could help in some way. Chloe chucked the keys across the parking lot, then stomped to the truck. Max was hot on my heels as we followed and quickly drove off. We had to be breaking the speed limit by at least twenty the entire way back.

"Chloe, you can't keep blaming me, Nick and everybody for everything wrong in your life. It's so not fair!" Max argued.

"I haven't blamed Nick for shit! But I gotta blame somebody. Otherwise it's all my fault. Fuck that." She growled back.

"So now it's Rachel's fault too?" Max asked. That was a line few dared to cross, only the bravest assholes ventured there.

"Jesus, she was banging that pig Frank! Bitch lied to my face, Max. I can't trust anybody again. Everybody pretends to care until they don't. Even you!"

"Chloe Price, you better take that back. Right now." Max warned.

"Okay, fine. But you just don't understand. It's like I'm being punished by the universe."

"So who do you most want to blame?" Max asked seriously.

"My fucking dad of course, hello?" Chloe answered, expecting us to know that.

"You blame William? Really?" Max asked incredulously.

"Yes, I do. Damn right. He chose to go out that door and leave me forever." Chloe sounded like she was trying to convince herself.

"Chloe, your dad didn't choose to 'leave' you."

"I know that, Max. My mom actually blames herself, just because she wanted a ride home from work. Sometimes, even I blame her."

"No, you don't." Max denied.

"Yes, Max, I do. Do you know what it's like to wait for your father to come home when you're a kid, and he never does?" I just kept feeling worse for her.

"No, of course not. But I was with you that day. It was just a terrible accident."

"I wish that made me feel better. But ever since he died, my life has been dipped in shit."

"We can help create a better life." I said, only to be outspoken by Max.

"You don't want to hear this, but you're still here. Alive. With me. And that is no accident."

"You're right, I don't want to hear this." Chloe agreed.

"Chloe, we can't do this on our own. We need you with us. And Rachel needs you." Max stopped short when Chloe came to a screeching halt in front of the school. Not a word was spoken as we got out, the bluenette taking off immediately after I shut the door.


	10. chapter 10

I sat in my room, staring blankly at the plain white wall across from me. I felt horrible for Chloe, seeing her probably-more-than-a-friend stripping for Frank. As much as I wanted to help find Rachel when it all first started, the feeling lessened greatly with the new development. But, despite the horrible recent events, I still needed to do research on my powers and maybe find why Max and I had them. I stood with a determined glare and stalked across the hall. If there was one person I could talk to and maybe find a solution with, it was Warren. I knocked on his door, trying to think of a way to bring up superpowers.

"What's up, man?" He asked with a smile. I came in and sat in his desk chair.

"I just thought of a new superpower, but I can't think of how they would get them. I'm trying to keep from the normal experiments, aliens, or radiation tropes." I said. He got a certain glint in his eye, and grabbed his laptop to take notes.

"What's the guy's power?" He asked.

"It's a bit complicated. He can hurt people when he chooses to. I mean, not at will, he can punch them and the actual impact can be triggered by him snapping his fingers." Warren's fingers were flying across the keyboard, furiously typing the description.

"Can his blows stack up?" He asked.

"Yeah, and it works with weapons as well. He can shoot someone and wait for the hole to appear in them."

"Can he do anything else?"

"Yeah, he can block attacks with his hands, like stopping a bullet dead in it's tracks." Warren typed the rest and hit enter a couple times.

"Any weaknesses?" He asked.

"Haven't found any yet." I answered, not realizing the slip.

"Found?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Besides the basic ones, I couldn't think of any."

"Well, if you're trying to find a why to his powers that isn't already taken, I'd suggest a higher power." He said, leaning back.

"How do you mean?" I asked him.

"Like, if the world gave him the power he needed at the time. Or if he needed to counteract someone else's power. Kind of like an equilibrium. Fire and water in superpower form."

"What power would he be fighting, though?"

"Best bet, probably time manipulation. His powers would be able to go through time, forward and back." My stomach dropped.

"Oh." I blurted.

"But, the guy would need forethought, like snapping before he threw a punch. Time is a tricky business, even in theory." Warren continued.

"You know, I've been thinking. If superheroes did just suddenly start appearing, how would the world take it?" I asked.

"Honestly, probably like the mutants in the Marvel comics. Fear and hate without a reason. Or just a worldwide witch hunt, which is a good possibility." He wasn't helping my mood at all, I had to bail out.

"But this is just theory, right?" I asked, standing.

"Yeah, but a very true theory." Warren answered. "And trust me, the world isn't that far behind comic books. Take Iron Man or Batman, they're just rich guys who use technology and their brains to fight criminals. In my opinion, they're better heroes than all of the ones with actual powers. Skill should trump a power any day of the week."

"If scientists did find a way to give powers, would you take the opportunity?" I asked.

"Depends on what power I get." He answered.

"What power would you want?" I asked.

"Probably time powers, I can get so much stuff done if I have infinite time." He answered.

"True." I said, walking out into the hall.

"But again...all theory, right?" He asked, a hint of inspiration in his eyes.

"Right, just a theory." We both grinned before speaking simultaneously.

"A game theory!" We laughed as I shut the door, heading back to my room. The conversation honestly gave me more worry than closure. Humanity would more than likely hunt us down, or experiment on us if we let our powers become known. What a wonderful thought process that was. Chloe texted us after a few hours, asking us to come outside. I stood and walked outside, seeing Max do the same. She seemed to be in a daze, a trance of sorts. I came up to her and gently grabbed her arm.

"Max?" I asked quietly. She looked me in the eyes, but there was no feeling in them. I gave her a worried look but walked with her towards the parking lot. Chloe was looking down at the pavement when we stopped in front of her.

"I'm sorry I snapped earlier. You guys didn't deserve the way I treated you, and I know you're just trying to help." She apologized.

"No apology necessary, I understand entirely. I may not have mind reading powers, but I know how badly that hurt you, and I'm sorry you had to find out that way." I said.

"Max?" Chloe asked, noticing our friend's quietness. She just looked back at her blankly.

"She's been in a trance since we got back, I didn't really notice until I saw her coming to you." I explained.

"Well, I've got stuff set up at home for an investigation. All we need is the other two detectives." She said, getting into the truck. Max got in stiffly, myself behind her and we took off back to the Price house.


	11. chapter 11

Chloe was telling the truth when she said she set up for an investigation. A large peg board leaned against the wall, along with a shit ton of pictures and newspaper clippings.

"This is all the evidence we've gathered over the past three days. Now, I know it has to be connected somehow, but I can't find the correlation. It's almost like we're missing a piece." We sat staring at the board for a few moments, then the world warped around me. I was confused before Max burst from her trance, time returning to normal.

"Chloe, you're back!" She gasped, clinging to the bluenette like a lifeline.

"Woah, down Max! You get one kiss and now you're all over me." Chloe joked, hugging her back.

"I'm just... I'm just... I'm so glad you're here!"

"You sound high, but thanks for the morning grope. Since we were up all night playing 'CSI: Arcadia Bay', I was still spaced out here, trying to put all this info together." Max sat on Chloe's bed in a haze. "Max, did you forget we've gone over this? I hope you weren't messing around with time while I was sleeping." It certainly seemed that way, although the warp was way too short to go back significantly. Chloe didn't remember searching Frank's RV, didn't remember Rachel's betrayal.

"Not anymore. I'm just spaced out, too." She answered. I decided to accept it for the moment, we had more pressing matters. "Let's look at the big board and see all our pieces in the puzzle so far."

She looked over the board for a minute before giving out orders. "So close, yet so far away. We have to do three main things."

"Right. Uh, what things?"

"One, decipher Frank's logbook. Two, get Nathan's phone to find out where he's been during the Vortex Club parties with Kate and Rachel. And see whatever hidden shit he's got in his messages."

"Three, beat step-douche down until he tells us about Frank, Nathan, and the 'Dark Room'. And I do have a gun now." Chloe added quietly.

"Keep it in your pants." I chuckled at that, getting a smack.

"God, you're such a teenage boy." She groaned.

"We'll have to do this on our own."

"Dude, at least let me kick his ass, then rewind...Fine, whatevs, it's your power." Chloe sighed when she saw Max's disapproval.

"Which I can't waste on shit like that. Or Blackwell would be in big trouble." She countered.

"You didn't even let me take that money to pay Frank off."

"And I'm glad. We have to be better than that."

"Yeah, stealing from a handicap fund is a bit more Frank's style." I agreed.

"I know. You should get busy in the garage to see what dirt you can dig up. I'm going to cyberstalk some names and see where that leads or to who." Chloe sat down at her desk, opening her laptop. I didn't think about it until after Max was gone, so I said it to the bluenette.

"Wait, dark room, that's for photography. Did Kate say anything about that?" I asked.

"Wait until Max gets back up here, she talked to her about it." Chloe said.

"Alright." I sighed, getting another beer from the drawer.

"You do realize you can get arrested for even smelling like alcohol, right?" She asked.

"Yeah, says the girl who smokes weed daily." I defended. She looked down when I said that, almost regretfully. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you. It was just the first response that came to my head."

"It's alright, I know. Recently you've been one of two people who haven't hurt me." She said.

"Then again, you met me three days ago." I told her.

"Just take the damn complement." She warned.

"Only 'cause it's you who said it." I responded, lying back on the bed.

"Man..." She trailed off.

"What?" I asked.

"I kinda feel bad how much you're trying. I almost feel like giving you a pity kiss." She laughed, taking a sip of her own beer.

"Sorry, what?" I asked, my face heating up.

"Oh come on, it's so obvious you have a crush on me. Just say it and everything will feel better." She promised.

"Alright, fine. Yes I have a crush on you." I admitted.

"Love at first saving-your-ass, right?" She asked.

"You could say that." I said. "And I saved yours first." I challenged.

"Oh really?" She asked.

"I did take a bullet for you." I said, sitting up to look at her. She gave me a 'really' look. "Twice. Max hit the rewind button after I threw my hand out in front of a gun. That's how we figured out we had powers."

"So you found out you had superpowers by taking a bullet for me? Some random girl you didn't know?" She asked, standing and walking up to me.

"Yeah, that sums it up I guess." I answered, taking another drink. She pushed the bottle out of the way and straddled my lap.

"I guess I need to thank you accordingly." She whispered, getting closer. Our lips barely grazed each other when the door opened, Max carrying a file. Chloe got up awkwardly and sat back in her chair.

"You guys ready to go? We've got all we need here." Max asked, dodging the obvious.

"Yeah, let's go hit Nathan's dorm. I think it's high time this fucker goes down for good." We left and drove back to school. Passersby would think the devil possessed us three by the identical evil grins we wore, and the glint in our eyes. We were barely inside when the last person I wanted to see came up to us.

"Hey, Max. Nick. How you doing?"

"Oh, hi, Mister Jefferson. I'm okay. Um, and this is our... friend Chloe." Max introduced.

"Yo." Chloe said casually.

"Chloe, why isn't someone as cool as you going to Blackwell?"

"I was way too cool for this school. It's a long story. In actual files here." She sounded like a museum tour guide.

"I can imagine. Are you two sure that you're alright?" He asked again.

"It's weird just being on campus, like everything's normal."

"I know. Lame as it sounds, life has to go on." Jefferson sighed.

"I think there's too much going on in my life." Max said.

"On that note, Blackwell duty calls. Remember, I'm going to announce the winner of the 'Everyday Heroes' contest tonight at the party, so I hope you'll be there to celebrate. Even though I'm sorry you didn't enter a photo, I understand your reasons. You can't force an artist to work." Jefferson dodged Max's statement.

"I feel like a total loser, but it's been a hard week to focus. No pun intended."

"I'm proud of you for caring so much about a troubled friend. And I take hope in the fact that you have plenty of time to find your way. Just... get in the habit of putting your work out there." He suggested.

"Thanks, Mister Jefferson. We'll definitely be there tonight."

"Me too. I'll be Nick's date. You better dance with us at least once." Chloe butted in.

"Nobody should have to see me dance. Plus, you don't want to watch the old hipster trying to keep up with the kids, I have some pride. Be seeing you."

"Yes, you will." Chloe said.

"The fuck was that all about?" I asked, just getting shrugs from the girls. We continued on, having a mission to uphold.

"Were you flirting with Mister Jefferson?" I asked as we walked into the courtyard.

"Don't start over analyzing things, tough guy. He's way too old for me." Chloe reassured. We continued through into the dorms with minimal witnesses, thank God. Chloe stood guard at the door, keeping an eye out for Nathan.

"He's over here, room one eleven." I said, pointing. I tried the door, of course it was locked. I body slammed the poor door a couple times then snapped, the hinges coming loose and dropping the door to the floor.

"Look for anything unusual." I said, looking through the books. Max shuffled through the papers on his desk and coffee table.

"Like scrape marks?" Max asked, gesturing to the couch. I came over and investigated the lines cut into the floor from repeated dragging. I pulled the left side out, Max grabbing the object taped to the back. A black phone that was way too expensive rested in her palm. We came back out and went to Chloe as she glared out the window.

"Damn, you're finally back. I got worried. So, what did you find?"

"His room was clean and... creepy. Check this out." She said, handing her the phone.

"Boom, Nathan! We got you by the balls, fucker." Chloe exclaimed in joy. The door suddenly flung open behind me.

"Speak of the devil, and he shall appear." I muttered to myself, turning around to see a furious Prescott.

"What are you doing in my dorm?!" He shouted, stomping towards us. "You're such a nosy bitch, Max!" We backed away.

"Stop right there, Nathan!" Max warned.

"Make me, ho!" He dared. He took a step closer, and We sprung into action. Chloe grabbed him by the shoulders while I beat him senseless, of course having no effect on him. Warren suddenly came out of nowhere and tackled him to the ground, beginning to pound his face in.

"Max, I got this!" Warren yelled.

"Get the fuck outta my face!" Nathan shouted, Warren headbutting him in response. "You are so fucking dead!" Nathan pulled out his gun, and I was about to go in, but Warren quickly kicked it out of his hand then kicked him in the stomach. "Get off me, brah!" Nathan was begging at that point, though Warren continued. Max was about to step in, but I stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. We all needed that, despite how terrible it was to watch.

"You like to hurt people, huh? Like Max? Like Kate? Like me? Huh? Feel this, motherfucker!" Warren was back to punching his face in, and I had to smile slightly.

"Get... off me... Please... please stop!" Nathan begged pathetically.

"He's down! Hey, come on." Max steered Warren away from Nathan's whimpering form, clutching his skull.

"Stop. Sorry." He kept muttering, sobbing.

"Yes, we have to go!" Chloe said as she took the gun from the floor. She paused before leaning down to Nathan. "Who's the bitch now?" She asked with enough venom to kill the bastard.

"Chloe!" Max protested. I almost followed her lead, but decided against it. The security camera spoke for itself.


	12. chapter 12

"Damn, that was intense. Warren... thank you so much." Max thanked after we got outside.

"For what?" He asked.

"For beating the shit out of Nathan Prescott! Dude, you rule." She shook him excitedly.

"I don't know. I kinda went crazy there... like Nathan." I stopped to think about the similarity, finding a very small percentage of it in the fellow nerd.

"You're not anything like him."

"Good to know. So, where are you going? I better stick with you guys. Just in case you need me to get my Hulk on again. Or should I call the cops on Nathan?"

"No police. Not yet. Uh, so maybe you better...um." Max couldn't turn Warren down, and I knew I couldn't either.

"Warren, Nick, Max and I have to do this on our own. No offense." Chloe decided to rip the band aid off.

"It's cool. Whatever I can do to help." He offered.

"What you can do is find out anything you can about Nathan's father."

"I'm on it. Between the snow and eclipse, I'm assuming the apocalypse is around the corner."

"You have no idea." I said wistfully.

"And... thank you. Seriously. I'll call you later." Max promised.

"You better. I'm feeling pretty alpha now." Warren had a taste for heroics, the future seemed promising.

"Yes. You are." Max affirmed. Warren walked off, much more confident than before.

"Man, that guy is so fucking in love with you." Chloe remarked.

"I know." Max responded.

"He really did give a serious beatdown to Nathan."

"It was a little scary to watch him do that."

"Now let's make a date with Frank." Chloe took the phone out.

"I don't swing that way, sorry." I said.

"Will he even answer you?" Max asked over me.

"Frank always answers when he wants money." she texted him, getting a ding almost immediately. "Like I said, Frank wants to see me right now."

"Let's not keep him waiting." We went to the truck and drove off towards the beach. I hoped he wasn't too mad I stole his knife.

"God, I hate seeing those poor whales like that." Max said as we parked. All of the animals were either dying or leaving the bay. I put it up to every creature's basic instinct of survival.

"Me too. I just think of their families out there in the ocean looking for them. Well, that asshole is gonna help us find Rachel." Chloe was definitely set in her ways.

"Or what? You'll actually shoot him? Chloe, do not count on my rewind. Seriously." Max panicked.

"Obviously, I'm not counting on you. That's why I have a gun. And I might even save you someday." Chloe stuffed the gun in her jeans.

"About time."

"I am so going to hit you."

"Besides, it's _we_ shoot him." I said, cocking David's gun from the junkyard. I handed Frank's knife to Max as a back up.

"There's no way we could've guessed this is what would happen to us when we grew up." Chloe said.

"Damn straight." I agreed.

"I'm looking forward to the day when we can just go on a road trip to Portland." Max sighed.

"Fuck yeah! You, me, Nick and Rachel." Chloe said.

"Absolutely. So, let's play this cool, okay?" Max pleaded. "Just talk to Frank so we can get that code for the book from him. That's all."

"Got it. No dicking around."

"Let's roll." We got out and headed for the RV. Chloe knocked on the door, Frank opening it and stumbling outside.

"Oh, look. The three blind mice. You shoulda come alone." He said to Chloe.

"They're my partners." Chloe defended.

"Yeah, or bodyguards. So let's get to business. Where's my fuckin' money?" He demanded.

"Get ready to rewind." I whispered.

"What are you saying, boy?" He asked, coming towards us.

"How much of a cock you are, and how we're glad your mutt ran into the street." I growled. "So tell me, what's with the photos you've got of Rachel stripping? I bet those weren't gifts like that bracelet you had."

"You motherfucker, I knew you took my fucking bracelet. Where's my knife?" He lunged at me, though my gun made him stop.

"You get your life and your knife back if you do what we say, deal?" I asked, daring him to test me.

"Why the fuck would I cooperate with you? I have nothing left!" He was drunk, and angry.

"Because you get a little heads up before anyone else, and you get what's due." I said, changing the deal.

"Fine, what do you want?"

"Code to your account book, and never threaten us again." I answered. He took out his wallet and gave Max a slip of paper. I lowered the gun and walked away.

"So when are you holding up your end of the deal?" He asked.

"Right now." I answered, turning and shooting him in the forehead. The girls yelped as the bang rang across the sand.

"You fucking missed?" He asked, only to feel the bullet fall onto his shirt.

"Nope." I smiled, raising my fingers.

"What the fuck are you?" He asked before my fingers cracked, a hole forming in his forehead.

"What the hell, man?!" Chloe screamed.

"I did exactly as I said I would. His head went up, and he got what was due." I said.

"That was low, we're trying to be better than them." Max argued.

"And I was better than them because I did this for the right reason, and succeeded. Sometimes you have to play by the enemy's rules to win the game, use their own tactics against them. Either way, a bullet to the brain is much better than whatever death he would have come to in the freak storm coming. See it as putting him out of his misery." I was pissed at that point.

"He was a dick, and you're right. Better to die quickly than in a storm." Chloe agreed.

"Are you two fucking serious? He just killed someone in cold blood!" Max yelled.

"But for the right cause. As I said before, he got what he wanted." Max started to raise her hand. "Max, please don't rewind this one." I pleaded. She sighed defeatedly, and started towards the truck. The ride back to the house was quiet, my decision leaving a mark on our friendship that couldn't be healed.

"Look. I know that you don't think Frank deserved to die, and a part of me agrees, but he said himself that he has nothing left. And he would be wiped out by a tornado tsunami tomorrow, which would give him a more painful death." I tried to explain.

"But we're trying to stop it before it starts, that's the part you're not getting." Max said meekly.

"Have to crack a few eggs to make an omelet. Saving the town is the omelet, and some things have to be ruined or destroyed to do that. Besides, you can't stop a storm just by getting someone arrested." I said.

"That's where we can agree to disagree. But it doesn't matter anymore, we need to find the dark room and Rachel." We pulled up and leapt from the car, getting upstairs before we had time to blink. It took a few minutes and a couple of beers to completely figure out the connection, and it all ended with six slips of coordinates.

"Chloe put these in as I give them to you." I read through the numbers, and it finally ended with a picture of an ancient barn owned by the Prescotts.

"I'm shocked." Max said sarcastically. "Should we go to the police?"

"Bad idea." I answered.

"Fuck that. You know the cops are like his private security, right?" Chloe asked.

"Fine. We'd probably get arrested for murder, anyway." She growled.

"Oh, get over it. He was scum, got what he should have." I argued.

"No one deserves everything we did to him." Max sighed.

"The dog didn't deserve to die. That, we can agree on." We lapsed into silence as we left the house.


	13. chapter 13

The truck rolled to a stop in front of the rotting barn, all of us getting out quickly and going to the large door.

"Shit, it's padlocked." Max said. I yanked a few times and snapped, breaking the lock and giving us entry.

"Tire tracks." I observed, pointing to the dirt under our feet. Chloe knelt down and examined them.

"They're fresh, someone was here recently." She affirmed.

"Let's spread out, look for anything useful." I suggested. Max and Chloe went over to a large chest and began sifting through the old folders and documents. I looked around the rest of the barn, trying to find anything hidden. There were piles of hay scattered across the room, maybe there was something underneath. I kicked the straw away in multiple areas, only finding dirt, but there was one at the back of the room. I kicked it away, starting slightly when my shoe bumped something solid. I kicked more away and found an almost brand new padlock keeping a hatch shut.

"Hey girls, I found what we're looking for." They came over while I tore the lock off, helping me push the hatch up. Cement stairs lead down, lit by strip lights.

"What the hell is this?" Max asked, starting down. Chloe moved past her and went up to the large vault door at the end of the hall.

"Oh you've gotta be fucking kidding me." I sighed, leaning against the wall.

"Hold on, let me try to figure out the code." Max said, examining the digicode lock. She pressed a few buttons and the door rattled. I chuckled lightly while I helped Chloe spin the wheel and pull the heavy ass door.

"Now that is a big door." I commented. I noticed the glances immediately. "Not the right time, sorry."

"Just get in there." Chloe said, pushing me in.

"This bunker is apocalypse ready. It must have cost a fortune." Chloe said as she strode through the kitchen area.

"Do they know the storm is coming?" I asked.

"They shouldn't, I can't think of a reason they would." Max said. I walked through a curtain and felt mortified. Half of the room seemed made for luxury, with an expensive computer and a white leather couch. The other half of the room was set up as a photography studio, with lights and a white backdrop.

"What the hell is this?" Max asked us.

"Rachel in the dark room." I muttered. I then turned to Max. "What did Kate say when she told you about when she was drugged?"

"She thought it was a hospital because it was so white and bright. She thought she heard a doctor speaking softly to her, but then she panicked when she heard Nathan. Last thing she remembered was feeling a prick in her neck." Max explained.

"Nathan brought her here." I growled. I noticed that the monitor was using the screen saver, meaning it was still on. I moved the mouse and an editing app appeared.

"Oh God." Max gasped, covering her mouth.

"Kate." I sighed as I stared into the desperate eyes of a dead girl. I shut off the monitor and was tempted to throw it across the room, but Chloe grabbed our attention.

"Guys, can you help me or are you just going to keep mourning?" She asked impatiently.

"Yeah." I agreed solemnly, beginning to search through a cabinet. There was a high tech theater system set up, but nothing else.

"Guys." Max called from the other cabinet. She held three binders in her hands, with very important names on them.

"Victoria is his next target, Vortex Club party tonight would be a good way to get her." I predicted when I saw the binder was empty. I didn't want to look into Kate's file, she didn't deserve that. Chloe snached Rachel's binder and flipped through the pages until there was one that we all recognized.

"Is that the junkyard?" Max asked.

"These have to be staged, maybe he offered her a shit ton of money to do it. She would have taken it." Chloe tried to explain the tortured photos with possible logic, which Nathan had none of.

"Chloe, we need to get to the junkyard. Now." I ordered. Her and I bolted for the stairs while Max trailed behind, her mind still muddled with thoughts of Kate. The engine was already running when she climbed into the truck. The wheels couldn't spin fast enough as we tore down the road and skidded into the scrapyard. Chloe and I dove out of the vehicle and flew around a few corners, sliding into the area where Rachel's picture was taken.

"Max, help us dig!" Chloe shouted, scraping the mud away from the area. After furiously digging, my hand finally hit something. I felt it, and realized it was a bag. after more digging a horrible smell slammed into the three of us, Chloe continuing to dig with a hand over her nose.

"Oh God, the smell!" Max heaved, covering her.

"Rachel? Oh God no, Rachel!" Chloe begged the corpse. She scrambled away and began to vomit into the grass. I was barely keeping myself from doing the same as I slumped backwards against a rusted car.

"Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!" I yelled, repeatedly punching the bumper with each word.

"Chloe, I'm so sorry." Max cried, comforting her.

"Why her? What kind of world does this? Who does this?!" She sobbed.

"After all this _fucking_ time! I don't care what happens afterwards, I don't care if he is mentally ill. Nathan Prescott is fucking dying tonight, and I'll be the one to do it!" I kicked the bumper and snapped my fingers, the car flew backwards and landed upside down.

"Not if I get to him first." Chloe growled, getting to her feet.

"We could take turns beating him, we could even get Warren in on it." I was smiling like the devil himself.

"Are you guys seriously going to kill Nathan?" Max asked, genuinely afraid of us.

"Fuck yes." Chloe and I answered simultaneously, murder in our eyes.

"We could call the cops." Max suggested in vain.

"Fuck cops, they're wrapped around Nathan's faggot ass finger." Chloe and I headed for the truck.

"This is a job for us, no one else would understand." Chloe affirmed.

"Fine, let's do it." She sighed.

"How much ammo do you have?" I asked.

"Full cylinder, you?"

"Full magazine minus one."

"Max, you fine with just a knife?" I asked over my shoulder.

"Yeah, I don't want anything more dangerous or illegal." She said.

"Suit yourself." Chloe shrugged, getting into the truck.


	14. chapter 14

"I hope Nathan enjoys his last party." Chloe growled. I started to form a habit of checking the bullets in the magazine, though I knew it was the exact same every time.

"Chloe, Nick, we could go right to the police. We have proof." Max tried to persuade us from committing murder.

"Fuck the police. Rachel wanted us to find her. So we could get real justice... and revenge. The Prescotts have had this coming for a hundred years, and nobody is gonna get in my way. Especially with your guys' help, right?" Two thirds of us were perfectly content on putting bullets into Nathan.

"Fuck yeah." I agreed, hiding the pistol.

"I'm with you to the end, Chloe. You know that." Max decided. No more words were spoken as we got out into the parking lot.

"Oh shit, this is like that eclipse!" Gasped some teenager on our right.

"You're right, look at that outline." Agreed another. I honestly didn't care, I was too busy wanting death.

"What is that? Jesus, look up at the sky!" Max whispered harshly behind us. I glanced up as Chloe and I went up the stairs.

"Two moon, big whoop..." I faltered slightly and looked up, though I kept walking. "Two moons." I breathed.

"Beautiful, I don't give a shit. The world is ending, cool." Chloe replied snarkily.

"Then again, just like everything else this week." I shrugged, following her lead.

"You're not listening! Something major is going down!" Max argued.

"That's right, Nathan Prescott is going down." Chloe growled, dragging Max with us. But, of course, we had to be interrupted.

"Welcome to the end of the world, ladies. I'm glad you decided to escort me." Warren slurred, stumbling up to us.

"Of course he's drunk, why wouldn't he be?" I muttered, taking a picture of the two moons with my camera. Warren would enjoy it when he was sober.

"You look really good, Warren. Are you alright after today?" Max asked.

"I really flipped out on Nathan. I just hate bullies... and Max, he's dangerous." He warned, flopping forward.

"Where is he?" Chloe asked harshly, clearly not in the mood to deal with him.

"I didn't see him at the dorm again. I was holed up in my room." Warren answered.

"Dude, have you been drinking?" Max asked.

"Well, if you consider half a beer 'drinking'..." He trailed off.

"Let's go, Max." Chloe rushed, tugging her arm.

"Hey, hey. I know this is a bad time, but can I get one picture? I've been feeling like this might actually be the end of the world, so..." Warren asked, taking out his camera. "I wanna have something for prosperity."

"Well, I don't blame you, Warren." Max sighed. Chloe and I were impatiently waiting, giving the drunk bastard a pair of glares.

"I know, I know, I'm a pain in the booty. Just one picture."

"Action." Max signalled, the camera clicking.

"We got no time for this shit. Come on, Max." Chloe said, she and I heading off for the door.

"Sorry, I just wanted to feel like a normal student after this week's ultraviolence." Warren apologized. Chloe and I went through the doors into the check in area.

"Has that ass Prescott been here?" Chloe asked Stella, the girl behind the table.

"No." She replied bluntly. We quickly pushing through the crowd and through a curtain into the pool area. A giant wave of sound slammed into my ears when the fabric parted, making me clutch them and groan.

"Come on!" Chloe yelled over the music. I went through, stumbling and clutching my ears desperately. We got around the pool and through the door to the locker room. I sighed in relief when the door closed and the music was muffled.

"Give me a minute." I gasped, the ringing muffling everything.

"We gotta keep going, can't stop for your sensitive ears." Chloe stalked over to the hall.

"Please." I begged quietly. I almost thought she didn't hear me for a moment before she sighed, coming back over to me.

"Guess we found the weakness, huh?" She asked.

"Guess so." I agreed, getting to my feet. A quick search through both rooms turned up with no Prescott, so we moved on to the rest of the school.

"Check the right, I'll go left." Chloe ordered, starting towards the photography room. I nodded to myself and entered the chemistry room, looking through all of the closets and cabinets. I moved across the hall to the art room, also finding no one.

"Well this was a fruitless venture." I sighed when I saw Chloe coming back.

"We haven't been upstairs yet." She pushed past me and practically levitated up the stairs. I went after and searched the right side again, finding nothing but some couples who couldn't find anywhere else to do the dirty.

"Find anything?" I asked.

"Other than a fear of sex in a classroom, no." She sighed and kicked the wall. "Dammit!"

"Hey, we all knew there was a slight chance Nathan wouldn't be here tonight. All we have to do is figure out where he is."

"Yeah, but how easy do you think that's gonna be? I've been trying to avenge Rachel but I can't do that if we don't know what we're doing."

"I know exactly what I'm doing." I argued.

"Yeah, and what's that? Following some emo chick on a journey that only ends in death and crime?"

"Following my friend on a journey that will end with Nathan Prescott dead in the dirt, and a vacation with said friend plus one. Maybe riding off into the sunset on horseback." I chuckled.

"That was the plan, but since when have our plans ever worked?" She asked.

"Saving you, for starters." I mumbled.

"Could you speak up?" She asked quietly.

"First plan to ever work flawlessly involving us is saving you." I said louder.

"You know, we never finished this conversation earlier." She smirked.

"Should we plan ahead next time?" I asked.

"When all this is over, and we're riding into the sunset, we'll pick this up." She set the date.

"Deal." I agreed. We headed back down and to the pool.

"Wait here, I'll get Max." She said, slipping back in. I sat on the tiled floor and waited. Through the door I could hear Jefferson announce Victoria as the winner, big surprise, and her dedicating the prize to Kate. After that Chloe came back dragging Max, not stopping until we were outside.

"Oh Christ, Nathan just texted me." She gasped, looking at the phone. "He says there won't be any evidence left after he's done."

"Rachel." I deadpanned.

"Shit, we have to get to the junkyard right now!" Max panicked, taking off with Chloe and I gaining. There were no cops on the way to the scrapyard, which was lucky for us. The tires screeched as Chloe slammed on the brakes, once again we went towards the unmarked grave, the moon changing back to singularity. "Stop stomping around, Chloe." Max whispered harshly, trying to sneak.

"Right. Just get ready to use your rewind fast if Nathan tries to jump us." Chloe slowed and stepped lightly. "God, I wanna kill that fucking psycho." She muttered.

"Hey, I can't focus if you're yelling, please." Max said. The bent metal in the moonlight created an eerie feeling as we crept through the winding piles of garbage.

"Come on, come on. Nathan needs to die now." Chloe said impatiently.

"For God's sake, Chloe, you have to be quiet. We could die, okay?" Max berated.

"Max, please hurry!" Chloe begged, changing to a jog as we neared the site. We dug the loose soil away to check, finding the blue material still there.

"Oh God, Max, look. She's still there." Chloe sighed relievedly.

"Don't look, Chloe." Max warned.

"Let's cover her back up. Once Nathan's dead we can-." I cut off when Max grunted behind us. I turned and was met by a needle in the neck.

"Chloe, look out." Max said weakly as I dropped to my knees.

"What the fuck?" Chloe gasped, pulling out her gun. A loud bang went off, and she slumped backwards. A penny sized hole in her forehead. I dropped down beside her, looking into her blank eyes. A foot rolled me over to get a better look at me. Mister Jefferson looking down at Max was the last thing I saw before blacking out.


	15. chapter 15

My eyes felt heavy, though I knew I had to open them. My body felt lifeless, though the pain proved that wrong. My eyes fluttered open, though I felt like I was spinning.

"Is anybody out there? Please, help!" Max shouted. I groaned and pulled my head up, looking around in a daze.

"Where the fuck are we?" I asked. I felt like I was gonna be sick, though I held it in due to Victoria lying on the floor in front of me. I made to rub my head, but flinched when I realized my hands and feet were bound.

"Dark room." Max answered quietly behind me. I started to jerk the straps holding my wrists, as well as ripping the duct tape on my ankles.

"The hell are you doing?" Max snapped.

"I, my friendly neighborhood superheroine, am going to get us out of here." I answered with a grin. "Can you rewind?"

"I think so."

"Good, I have a plan to go back and save Chloe." I warned. I snapped my fingers and the buckle broke, freeing my wrists. I leapt up and hid behind our back to back chairs. The curtain flew open and Jefferson looked around, though he never got a chance to do anything. The world warped backwards and stopped. I quietly freed Max and scanned the room for anything useful. Our things were piled on a cart in the corner, along with my pistol. I didn't know precisely where Mister Jefferson was, so I decided to book it towards the gun. Just as I picked it up he burst in again, and flew backwards. I crept through the curtain, and tried to plan on my feet. Jefferson's back was turned to me, meaning I could sneak up. I decided to cut out the middle man and fired at the back of his head.

"What the fuck? How did you get free? Did you just _miss_ at that distance?" He asked, bewildered. Max came up behind me.

"You know how you said there's something special about us?" I asked. He noticed the bullet ding on the floor at his feet.

"What are you?" He asked, feeling the back of his head and neck.

"Doesn't matter, you'll never know." I answered, snapping my fingers. Max hugged me from behind.

"Let's get out of here." She sighed, heading out while I got his keys. I didn't notice the wind until we got into the barn. Everything was groaning and rustling. Max and I hopped into Jefferson's black car and took off through the pouring rain, barely able to see anything. She called Warren while I drove.

"Warren, can you hear me?" She asked.

Silence.

"Never mind. Listen do you have that photo you took last night in the parking lot?"

More silence.

"Yes, it is and I want it. Where are you?"

Warren spoke more.

"We're on our way."

He made an argument.

"That's okay, me too. But it's not over yet, Warren, so hold on." Max cut the call. She went through her phone for a minute before turning up the volume.

' _Max, it's... it's Nathan. I just wanted to say... I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt Kat or Rachel, or... I didn't want to hurt anybody. Everybody... used me. Mister Jefferson... is coming for me now. All this shit will be over soon. Watch out, Max. He wants to hurt you next. Sorry._ ' The voicemail ended. I felt bad, slightly. He may have been an absolute douche bag, but he just wanted to follow in his hero's footsteps. He just chose the wrong hero.

The town was burning, flooding, collapsing and many other horrible things. The road was blocked a few kilometers from the Two Whales, so I had to get out and clear debris using my powers. After much trial and error we finally made it in front of the diner. I almost went in when Max pulled me back, the restaurant exploding in a ball of fire.

"We need to stop the fire." She explained. She rewound and I looked around for anything to use.

"Oh look, a convenient bag of sand with a shovel. That sure is lucky." I muttered to myself, scooping some of the sand and dumping it in the line of gasoline. We sighed in relief when the fire stopped spreading.

"Let's go." I said. We got inside and jogged over to Warren.

"Max, Nick!" He called coming to us with Joyce right behind.

"Oh Jesus, I am so glad to see you two! Are you okay?" Joyce asked.

"Yes, what about you guys?" Max replied.

"The Two Whales is barely standing now. I don't know if it's going to make it through this tornado." Joyce answered. "Poor Officer Barry and all those other people out there..."

"I know."

"Okay, get your ass inside. I have to get back to this gentleman on the ground. Warren has been gathering all the first aid."

"It's not much Joyce, but it's all we have." Warren said.

"You okay, Warren?" Max asked while Joyce went to the refugees.

"How the hell did I ignore all those warnings, Max? The snow, the eclipse."

"There's nothing you could do about it, Warren."

"I'm so stupid. I should've seen this coming." He berated himself, going back to the counter. "I hate to say I'm glad to see you, but I'm so glad to see you."

"That's okay. The important thing is that you're safe. And I know you can take care of yourself, after Nathan."

"Should've done that a long time ago." He smirked. "But damn, Max. I can't believe you actually drove down here. In the middle of this E-six tornado, just for one photograph."

"Trust me, if you knew why it would make a lot more sense." I said over my shoulder, watching the storm with fascination.

"I mean, I know you didn't come for me." He said.

"Warren, we came for all of you. Just tell me you do have the photograph." Max begged.

"I just want-."

"Now shut up and listen." Max was being way more harsh than she needed to be.

"Oh yeah, you're finally going to tell me what you never did in the parking lot."

"I wish I would have. So I'm just going to tell you without any explanation. Trust me, okay?"

"I always do. You should probably tell me quick."

"I had a vision in Mister Jefferson's class of a tornado destroying Arcadia Bay. I went to the bathroom and saw my best friend Chloe almost get shot by Nathan Prescott. Nick had stepped in the way but didn't get hurt. You with me so far?"

"Where else could I be? Go on."

"Then I found out that I could rewind time. And, long story short, Mark Jefferson is insane and dangerous."

"Woah, is that all?"

"I have to go back in time. Jefferson already ki-killed Chloe. I can't let that happen. I have to do something, Warren."

"Max, going back in time is what caused the storm." Warren argued.

"All because... because of me? How?"

"I'm not a real scientist, even though I play one at school, but this seems like pure cause and effect, maybe chaos theory. Uh, what happened with Jefferson? Did... did he hurt you?"

"He used Nathan to get drugs for him. Jefferson tied me up and... dosed us with some drug and took sick photos of us. It was so horrible."

"Max, I'm so sorry you had to go through all that. You're the bravest person I've ever known. Now, I want to kill that son of a bitch. Where is he?"

"Already dead, curteousy of yours truly. He's history." I said.

"Which I need to change fast to make it right again. Is that bad?" Max asked.

"For every action, there's... there's a reaction. Whenever you reversed or altered time, maybe you caused a chain reaction. Even in the environment."

"You're my friend, Warren. You believe me, right? I... I haven't told anybody else except Chloe... and... and she can't help me right now."

"I know I can be a pain in the ass. And... and you've always treated me like a person, not... not a beta nerd. I told you before that I'll always believe you."

"I just wish I could trust my powers. I guess we'll never know if it's magic or science."

"Even if it's from a wizard or a wormhole, you're part of something bigger."

"We both are." I corrected.

"How so?" Warren asked.

"Remember that hero idea I told you about a couple days ago? Not so fictional."

"Of course not. Well, I don't believe in fate or destiny, but after today I realize I don't know shit."

"That makes both of us, Warren." Max said.

"Three." I corrected again.

"I know you're here for a reason, and I guess it's up to you to find out why. Max, I'm sorry you got stuck in this... in this... I don't have a fucking clue what's going on. But I have total faith that you'll do the right thing when the time comes. I'm so proud of you, Max. How could there be a more important moment in history? And I'm in the middle of it with you? So thank you for trusting me."

"Thanks for being here, always." Max said.

"You've been a good friend, Warren." I added. Max moved to focus on the picture, grabbing my arm.

"Hey, be careful out there." Warren gave his farewell.

"I could use a hug before we do this." Max sighed, letting go and wrapping her arms around Warren.

"Me too." He said, tightening the grip. After they parted he gave parting words. "You better go before I get pathetic and tell you not to."

"You're not pathetic, you're one of my heroes. And I'm going to make the right choices from now on. I swear."

"That's why you're Super Max." She grabbed my arm again and stared at the picture for a minute. Everything turned white, a scene being made as if it was from a Polaroid instant camera.

"We got no time for this shit. Come on, Max." Chloe growled, getting impatient.

"Chloe!" We both gasped, wrapping her in a sandwich hug.

"Jesus, what is up with you two?" She asked, confused and a tad annoyed.

"I'm just glad we're here together." Max answered.

"I guess you need to talk. No worries, it's all good." Warren said more to himself, stumbling off.

"I'm glad you're with me, too. What's going on, guys? We have to find Nathan right now." Chloe started towards the party.

"Sorry, Warren." Max muttered as we gave chase.

"He's going to fucking pay for what he did to Rachel. Let's go, now."

"Chloe, wait. Listen." Max ordered.

"I can walk and listen, okay?" Chloe waved off.

"Not this time." I ran in front of her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Stop and listen for once." Max pleaded, coming around to face her.

"Fine. I'm listening."

"Chloe, you can't go in that party. You're gonna... you're gonna die if you do."

"You used your powers, right? And you fucked around with time, and I died."

"Not like that."

"You two are supposed to back me up. So there's no way that punk-ass Nathan Prescott is taking me down." Chloe argued.

"We are, and it wasn't Nathan." I said.

"Mark Jefferson killed you, and others." Max added.

"Jefferson, the art teacher? That's bullshit! Nathan is the fucking serial killer. We saw the proof. Now, excuse me, I'm going to that party to make sure he never hurts anybody again. Are you coming?"

"You wanna know how many people Nathan did all of this to? One. And the only reason he did was because he had a crush and wanted to be like Jefferson. Rachel died because Nathan accidentally overdosed her while trying to be like his hero." I explained tersely.

"Nathan is dead, and you're in danger."

"That fucker is already dead? How do you know that?"

"Jefferson likes to chat while taking pictures of people." I said.

"Will you please tell me exactly what happened? Please?"

"We were drugged, you got shot. We woke up with the storm already going. We were tied to chairs while he was in the other section. I broke us free, shot him, and drove to the diner to get the picture Warren just took." I dulled it down way more than I thought possible.

"Then we have to stop jefferson." I cheered a loud ' _yes_ ' in my head. "With a bullet." Followed by a loud ' _no_ ' from the same mental crowd.

"No, not that way! Chloe, I can't keep fixing everything if all I'm gonna do is just break it, over and over again. I know how this is gonna turn out, and I'm afraid I fucked up all these alternate realities." I paused at that, when were there alternate realities, unless she did something like that before.

"Wait, alternate realities? What do you mean, Max. What did you do?" Chloe voiced my question.

"I... Chloe, I'm going to tell you the truth. No matter what. I changed your past and I had to make a terrible choice, and I... I..." She was a stuttering mess, I couldn't think of what she had to do.

"Max, please tell me. I won't be mad at you."

"I was able to go back in time... to the last day William was alive. I stopped him from leaving, but... but you ended up in a car crash instead."

"You saw my dad again?"

"You... you were completely paralyzed. And you were in pain. You were slowly dying, and you..." She sighed to calm herself. "You asked me to... end your life. But Chloe, there was no way I could do that. J had to return to this timeline... to see you again. I had to."

"God, Max. That must have been... that must have been awful for you. I'm so sorry I had to ask you that."

"It was worse for you. But I had no idea what would happen and, as usual, I messed everything up, and... I never want to hurt you, ever. You have to believe me."

"Of course I do. Do you think I would even know how to handle that situation?"

"Nobody would."

"The important thing is that we're together again."

"You're right, that's why you should come with us so we can stay together... and stay alive."

"I hear you, Max, but do you think we should let Jefferson get away with torture and murder?"

"Of course not! If we tell David, he'll believe us and he can actually stop him, right?"

"I don't get it. Why do you trust him, after you totally reamed him the other day? He's not even at our house anymore." Chloe was starting to get irritable. I thought about what would happen if we did call David. He could get the authorities and bust Jefferson, or he could fuck us over and get us arrested. We could handle Jefferson ourselves, myself, really. One or two bullets would end it rather than a full investigation along with questioning about how we found out about the dark room.

"I'm agreeing with Chloe on this, Max. We can finish Jefferson ourselves. A full investigation, along with questions about how we found out could be dangerous for all of us."

"What do you think we should do, then? I don't have any better ideas. And don't say a bullet!" She raised a finger.

"I was thinking, we scope him out after the party. Wait at the barn for him to bring Victoria. We take pictures and record everything, then get the evidence to the police." It was a solid plan in my mind.

"But what about getting questioned?" She asked.

"I don't need to see the future to know he'll panic and take out his gun, which means I can shoot him in self defence, then we can say we're too traumatized to talk about the whole thing. Chloe's friend is dead, and we all watched our trusted teacher die. Not to mention what we found in the dark room, and watching Kate kill herself." I was ranting and rambling.

"It could work. We need to play it right, though."

"If something goes wrong you rewind back to before it happened and warn us. Simple."

"Nick, your genius is showing." Chloe smiled.

"Where?" I asked, flinging my hands to my crotch.

"Let's go. It's time we take this fucker down." Chloe said, going back to the truck. The world seemed to fade into white, as we headed in the opposite direction. I looked around, seeing hazy images of us staking out the barn, Jefferson lying on the ground, and a storm raging around us. Sound filled my ears while my vision cleared. I dropped to my knees and shook my head to clear the dizziness.

"Oh, Chloe." Max gasped, hugging her.

"I see that the real Max is back. So how was your time trip, you two?" She asked, looking to me.

"Gimme a minute." I said, wobbling.

"You alright?" She asked, helping me up.

"Yeah, it's just... first time." I trailed off as I gaped at the ocean. A swirling gray vortex sat in the water, slowly but surely heading towards us as we stood on the shore.

"Well, I definitely don't blame you for wanting my drama out of your lives after this week." She said.

"Oh come on, we're the official royal drama family of Arcadia Bay this week."

"Do you remember what happened after we left the party?" I asked.

"Yeah. We waited for Jefferson, shot his ass, then the storm picked up and you both said we'd be safe at the lighthouse."

"Chloe, look. The storm is getting bigger. It's coming closer. I... I can't even believe this is real, but this is happening because of me." Max was terrified, I could see it in her eyes.

"Stop it. Stop beating yourself up, okay? We all paid our dues already on that." She looked up at the storm. "Oh God, look at that. Look at that monster. Who knows, this could be Rachel's revenge, our revenge."

"We need to get to that fucking lighthouse. Now!" I had to pick up my voice as the wind got more powerful, jolting us backwards. We started to go, but my head suddenly started throbbing. I felt something warm run down my nose, and found it to be blood when I took my hand away. "What the fuck?" I drifted off, feeling the sand meet my body.


	16. chapter 16

I jolted and looked around, feeling the urge to run as I saw the classroom.

"Alfred Hitchcock famously called film 'little pieces of time' but he could be talking about photography, as he likely was." Bile rose in my throat at the sound of his voice. "These pieces of time can frame us in our glory and our sorrow; from light to shadow; from color to chiaroscuro." A paper ball flew across the room and hit Kate in the face. "Now can you give me an example of a photographer who perfectly captured the human condition in black and white?" Victoria's phone vibrated on the table.

"Diane Arbus." She answered.

"There you go, Victoria! Why Arbus?" _'Thunk'_ I jumped and looked out the window. I felt even more sick to my stomach as dozens of birds began splattering against the windows, creating dark red smears.

"Because of her images of hopeless faces. You feel like, totally haunted by the eyes of those sad mothers and children."

"She saw humanity as tortured, right? And frankly, it's bullshit. Shh, keep that to yourself. Seriously though, I could frame any one of you in a dark corner, and capture you in a moment of desperation." I finally realized that he gave the entire class a giant hint to his sins long before he was revealed. All of a sudden the bell rang, and the entire school population disappeared. I turned to look at Max, who had the same expression of abject horror on her face. We stood and made to leave the room, though a voice made me yelp and spin around.

"I see you, Max Caulfield. Don't even think about leaving here until we talk about your entry." We walked over to him, I had to restrain myself from snapping his neck like a twig. "I just wanted to know if... you'd like to spend the rest of your life in my dark room." He said to Max. "Your purity inspires me so much, and we could be so happy together. Who needs selfies, when I can give you portraiture?" I slowly began to raise my fist, but Max stopped me.

"I've been dreaming of the day when you would finally tell me. I love you, Mister Jefferson." I glared at her in disgusted confusion. What the fuck was she doing?

"Call me Mark. We need to play catch-up on all the time we've... wasted. Especially since there's nobody left in your life. I love you too, Max." And he disappeared just as quickly as he reappeared.

"What the fuck was that?" I asked angrily.

"I... I don't know." She said whistfully. I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her along and out of the room, entering the girl's dorm, lit by bundles of candles.

"Okay, what did we do to time and... space?" I asked.

"Wait, who is that?" Max asked, pointing down the hall. We cautiously headed towards the weeping girl, kneeling over a memorial to Kate. Only when we got close did I realize that the mourning girl was Kate, lighting her own candles.

"Kate?" I said quietly, almost afraid to disturb the dead.

"How could you let me jump off a roof?" She asked tersely.

"You were the only people I trusted here." Said her voice behind us.

"But you never really listened to me." Said another Kate staring at the wall. "Now I'm never going to Heaven."

"Instead, you've stuck me in Hell. Alone forever." She said to our left.

"No, Kate, we were only trying to save you." Max begged. Kate didn't listen as she opened her door, revealing a white nothingness, and leaping into the abyss. I bolted after her, but entered the same dorm rather than the void.

"Before we go to Kate, look around. There might be something here." I said as we slowly walked down the hall.

"Key." Max pointed out as she went to the shower room table. "Two eighteen, Dana's room." We went to the door and unlocked it, revealing the same hall."

"God damn...wait a minute, you're wearing Rachel's clothes." I pointed out.

"You're wearing David's." The dorm was trashed, papers scattered across the floor. A voice began to echo in my ears, something about Rachel leaving without someone.

"Where's Rachel's room?"

"Two two four." We went through the door on our left, and waited.

"Oh my God." Victoria gasped to my left.

"Victoria?" I asked.

"Nathan?" she asked.

"Wait, Max?" I asked again.

"Nick?" She responded.

"Alright, we gotta figure this one out fast."

"Victoria's room, two two one." We jogged over and burst through into the _same God damn hallway_. We changed back to our normal selves, and I sighed in relief.

"Thank God. At least now I know I can make jokes about Nathan and a microscope." I chuckled.

"Where to next?"

"Your room?" I asked. We headed down the hall, which was now littered with photos. We went through, and entered the actual school hallway. "Fucking finally." I sighed, leaning against the wall.

"Wait." Max said. I looked at the crowd. The entire population was rewinding.

"Shit." I hung my head. We went through the sea of people, careful to avoid touching anyone.

"The deer!" Max gasped.

"Deer?" I asked, looking where she was pointing. There was, in fact, a translucent deer standing in the hall. It was staring right at us, as if waiting for us to come to it. When we got close it trotted away and entered the bathroom door, which held a white void. Max and I followed it through, and disappeared into the blank space. The world formed around us as we walked. At least, a very fucked up version of it. There were walls holding portraits, almost as if a labyrinth was made into a museum. The lighthouse spun in the distance over the walls.

"Alright, what did we smoke?" I asked.

"Come out, you two! Let me capture you!" Shouted a voice behind the wall directly before us. Another voice said something else in the distance, followed by a third.

"Are you fucking serious? We have to sneak?" I sighed.

"We do have powers." She reminded me.

"Ah, right. So... I guess I sneak around, snap their necks, and if I screw up..."

"I rewind."

"Easy." I remarked. I stepped out of hiding and looked for one of them, spying the one directly ahead. I crept up and jerked his head to the side, or, tried to. I then slid back into hiding and snapped my fingers. A wet pop erupted from over the wall, followed by a thunk of a body. We made our way past and waited for another one. The process continued for several minutes before the land was eerily silent.

"Alright, let's go." She said, going towards a revolving light.

"Oh Jesus, it's Principal Wells." I gasped, seeing the Man's eyes were replaced with lights, his body strapped to a pivot. Large portraits of different girls in the dark room were set up in a circular shape.

"We need to time it right." She said, darting out and across to the next one before the light hit it. We made it past without any trouble, and found ourselves surrounded by lockers.

"Come out!" Called another familiar voice.

"Warren?" I whispered.

"Whatever, just get past him." She waved off. I ran up while his back was turned and snapped his neck, only feeling a hint of remorse. We made our way through the lockers, having to sneak past more Jefferson's as well. We finally reached the lighthouse, I sighed out of relief.

"Thank God." I walked up and sat on the bench. Snow began to fall around us, and the light house got smaller. The darkness around us slowly began to brighten into a giant house. I immediately recognised it as Chloe's house. "I'm not even gonna try to understand what's happening at this point." I sighed, sitting back and waiting for something to happen. A flash of light grabbed my attention, and a young Max stood before us with a grimace of regret, holding what seemed to be a photo.

"You destroyed your only way to save William." I commented.

"It was either that or risk having the other future." She replied. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, which she read with a gasp.

 _'Hey, Max, would you mind saying hi to Chloe and Joyce? Don't forget to remind them you let me die.'_ It read. The world turned white, then morphed into the dark room. Max and I were bound to the chairs again, though they both faced forward. Jefferson sat on the arm of the couch while Chloe posed for photos.

"I think you'd be perfect for my new photo series on retro-grunge. You have the same qualities that I lobed in Rachel Amber, but not Max or Nick." He said while snapping pictures.

"They're fucking children." Chloe agreed.

"Oh Christ, I know. And they never shut up, do they?"

"I'm so over Max's hipster bullshit."

"I think everyone at Blackwell is over Max, let's prove it." The world flashed, and Warren stood before us with Chloe.

"Booyah, Warren! I thought you were all over Max's shit."

"She's not all that, so who cares if she doesn't kiss me?"

"You should've seen her make a move on me in my room. Hella lame."

"What about Nick?" Warren asked.

"He's just a horny dog. He just wants what's in my pants."

"They should see me make a move on you. Come here." I started to fight my restraints as the two began to suck each other's faces off. The world flashed, and Chloe was sitting on the couch with Nathan Prescott.

"Goddamn, you are one sexy bitch! Why hang out with Max and Nick, huh?" He asked.

"Boredom. Plus, they're like my personal puppets."

"I hear that. Do you... wanna party? I got a drugstore in my room."

"Oh shit, look at them spying on us. Take pictures, bitches! Or take a selfie." Another warp, and Chloe stood before us in her underwear. I turned away, not wanting to see some projection of her like that.

"See, this is how you bust a move, Max. No mosh pit for you, Shaka brah!" She called over the music. She hopped down and straddled my lap, forcing me to look at her. "Can't stand to look at me?" She asked. The world shifted again, and Victoria was sitting on the couch with her arms wrapped around Chloe. "Damn, Victoria. You're a real woman. Not some little kids like Max and Nick."

"I fucking love your tats, Chloe. You're so hot. I can't believe it took us so long to hook up." They started to make out, making me turn away again. Another flash, and Chloe sat before us, bound to a wheelchair.

"Why did you get rewind powers? You don't even know how to use them. Rachel's dead, and you're still alive. Life is...so not fair." She said. I felt a strain in my gut when she said that last sentence, almost as if she should have said something different. Yet another flash, and the normal Chloe stood before us, taking pictures.

"I wish you would have never come back to Arcadia Bay. You're the real storm." She taunted Max. She took a picture, the camera flash changing the scene into a bathroom.

"Dafuck was that?" I asked, I then looked around and saw a digicode lock. "Dafuck is this?"

"Oh God." Max jumped into me. Numbers had appeared around the room, one circled in the mirror.

"Zero three one one." I repeated to myself as I typed it in. The lock clicked, and we exited. The Two Whales greeted us, filled with people glaring at us and accusing us of leaving them to die. We moved past them awkwardly, then I noticed two people sitting in a booth. "It's us." I walked up and greeted them.

"Who... who are you?" Max asked.

"Holy shit, are you cereal? We're you, dumbass. Or two of many Maxes and Nicks you've left behind." Answered the Other Max.

"Can you get us out of here?"

"Oh, so you want help? Thought you could control everyone and everything, huh? Twist time around your fingers?"

"I tried to help. I only wanted to do the right thing."

"No, you only wanted to be popular." Other Max argued. "And once you got these amazing powers, your big plan was to trick everyone into thinking you give a rat's ass."

"And what's your take on what I've done?" I asked the other me.

"Want me to be honest? You've been using your powers to impress, not to help. And we both know who you're trying to impress." He said, sitting back.

"Fair enough." I agreed, turning back to the conversation. The door opened behind both of me, we turned around.

"Oh hell, speak of the devil..."

"Dude, do not even fuck with their heads!" Chloe growled, sitting next to the other me.

"They know what we went through together this week, and you don't! There's no way you can break up our team! This is reality!" The world moved, and we stood in the darkness once again, the lighthouse in the distance. Different segments of our week long journey stood like statues as we walked past. Being saved by Chloe, sneaking into the pool, the kiss, everything. We got to the lighthouse, where Chloe was carrying us on her shoulders.

"We need to line up." I said, wrapping my arm over Chloe's shoulder. I felt as if sleep overtook me, then I felt cold rain pelting my skin.

"Come on, please wake up!" Chloe begged as she dropped us, not being able to carry us any longer. I rubbed my face and sat up, seeing stars from the dizziness.

"We passed out, went through hell, came back."

"Don't you ever do that again, okay?" Chloe pleaded.

"I swear, but this nightmare was so real, so horrible." Max said as she stood and looked at the storm. "This is my storm! I caused this...I caused all of this! I changed fate and destiny so much that... I actually did alter the course of everything! And all I really created was just death and destruction!"

"Fuck all of that, okay? You were given a power. You didn't ask for it, and you saved me. Which had to happen, all of this did... except for what happened to Rachel! But without your power we wouldn't have found her! Okay, so you're not the goddamn time master, but you're Maxine Caulfield, and you're amazing." Chloe paused to think, then a thought seemed to strike her as she dug through her pocket. "Max, this is the only way." She said, holding out a picture. A very familiar blue butterfly sitting on a bucket lid in the bathroom.

"No." I muttered.

"I feel like I took this shot a thousand years ago." Max commented.

"You... you could use that photo to change everything right back to when you took that picture. All that would take is for me to... to..."

"Not fucking happening." I answered.

"Fuck that! No, no way! You are my number one priority, now! You are all that matters to me!" Max agreed.

"I know. You proved that over and over again... even though I don't deserve it. I'm so selfish. Not like my Mom. Look what she had to give up and live through. And she did. She deserves so much more than to be killed by a storm in a fucking diner. Even my step...father deserves her alive. There's so many more people in Arcadia Bay who should live. Way more than me."

"Stop, You're worth more than all of them!" I shouted.

"Don't say that! I won't trade you!" Max denied.

"You're not trading me. Maybe you've just been delaying my real destiny. Look how many times I've almost died or actually died around you. Look at what's happened in Arcadia Bay ever since you first saved me. I know I've been selfish, but for once I think I should accept my fate. Our fate."

"Please." I was starting to cry.

"Chloe!" Max was already in full swing.

"Max, you finally came back to me this week, and a new closest friend came with you. And you did nothing but show me your love and friendship. You made me smile and laugh like I haven't done in years. Wherever I end up after this... in whatever reality all those moments between us were real, and they'll always be ours. No matter what you choose, I know you'll make the right decision."

"Chloe, I can't make this choice!" Max sobbed.

"No, Max. You're the only one who can." The world paused, Max clearly thinking.

"Max, it's time."

"Chloe, I'm so so sorry. I don't want to do this." Max hugged Chloe.

"I know, Max. But we have to. We have to save everybody, okay? And you'll make those fuckers pay for what they did to Rachel. Being together this week. It was the best farewell gift I could have hoped for. You guys are my heroes."

"Oh... Chloe, I'm gonna miss you so much."

"I'll always love you." Chloe sighed, backing away. Before we left, I had to say something. I shyly walked up to her, tears in my eyes. "Oh, Nick." She said.

"I guess we're never getting our sunset." I said with a forced smile, which quickly turned into a crying face as I hugged her.

"I'll make sure to take Max on a road trip after this is over. You'll be joining us, right?" I asked.

"Absolutely, now get out of here before I freak." I decided to take the leap of faith, she was dying anyway. I tapped her on the shoulder to grab her attention, then brought our faces together. The kiss was brief, but it was definitely worth it. We both smiled as we parted, myself going to Max who was waiting with the picture.

"Don't you forget about me." She ordered, placing a hand on my shoulder. I covered it with my own while Max took my arm and focused. The world turning white, morphing back into the Blackwell bathroom.

AVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAV

 **AN: After finishing the story, and further thought, I have decided to write two endings. This gives the reader the choice of sacrificing Chloe or Arcadia Bay, just like in the game. It also gives me the opportunity to write a completely original sequel, rather than a lot of script with added dialogue. The author's note at the end of the sacrifice Chloe ending will stay as it was when I finished writing, mainly for sentimental reasons of how I first ended.**

 **Next chapter: Sacrifice Arcadia Bay**

 **Last chapter: Sacrifice Chloe**

 **Review, like it, both?**


	17. Sacrifice Arcadia Bay

The camera flashed as Max took a picture of a blue butterfly. I hid in a stall, waiting for Nathan Prescott to pull out a gun. This time, however, a life wouldn't be saved.

"Make sure you get the picture, we need evidence." I said shakily. A single tear rolled down my cheek as I heard the door open, and footsteps head to the sink.

"It's cool, Nathan. Don't stress. You're okay, bro. Just count to three. Don't be scared. You own this school. If I wanted, I could blow it up. You're the Boss." He coaxed himself. The door banged open a second time, and my dear bluenette came in, checking the first few stalls. "So what do you want?"

"I hope you checked the perimeter, as my step-ass would say. Now, let's talk bidness."

"I got nothing for you."

"Wrong. You got hella cash."

"That's my family, not me."

"Oh boo hoo, poor little rich kid. I know you been pumpin' drugs n' shit to kids around here. I bet your respectable family would help me out if I went to them. Man, I can see the headlines now."

"Leave them out of this, bitch."

"I can tell everybody Nathan Prescott is a punk ass who begs like a little girl and talks to himself!" The click of a gun echoed throughout the room.

"You don't know who the fuck I am or who you're messing around with!"

"Where'd you get that? What are you doing? Come on, put that thing down!"

"Don't ever tell me what to do. I'm so sick of people trying to control me!"

"You are going to get in hella more problems for this than drugs."

"Nobody would ever miss your 'punk ass' would they?"

"Get that gun away from me, psycho!" I couldn't bear it. I flew out of the bathroom, throwing my hand in front of the gun right before it went off. My fists quickly connected with Nathan's face as Max's camera flashed. I snapped my fingers, knocking the asshole out cold. Max stepped out, stunned that I had fucked up the plan.

"Are you alright?" I asked Chloe, turning to see recognition in her eyes.

"Looks like we might get our sunset after all." She remarked.

"You remember?" I gazed at her with wide eyes.

"I noticed you hold onto me when Max took us back. Just like with the train a few days ago." She smiled. David burst into the room, confused by the three of us standing over his unconscious secret employer.

"What the hell is going on in here?" He asked. Max gave him the picture she took, while Chloe and I stood with our arms crossed. The principal came in soon after, who was shown the photo.

"Mister Madsen, get Mister Prescott out of here and in a holding cell while he's out. You three, come with me." He ordered. We followed him to his office, sitting in the interrogation chairs.

"Max, I can understand why you would be in the girl's bathroom at the time, as you are female and attend this school. You two, however, I do not understand. Nick, why were you in the women's bathroom?"

"I heard shouting from Nathan, which I found odd since he was in the girl's bathroom. I came in to him holding a gun to Chloe, and naturally threw my hand in front of the gun to hit it away." I explained.

"And, Miss Price, why are you here at all?" He asked.

"Nathan owes me money, plus I wanted to see my friends. Nathan panicked when he saw me and went to the bathroom, I followed and he pulled a gun on me."

"This will be discussed further at a later date. Congratulations, you two. You've saved a life today." He shook our hands as we went out, and I decided to do something before we took off.

"Mister Madsen!" I got his attention as we walked over to him.

"Yes?" He grunted, carrying Nathan's dead weight.

"Nathan was saying something about a darkroom, and coordinates." I wrote them down and gave them to the security guard.

 _Latitude: 45.496698_

 _Longitude: -123.894625_

"Thank you. You kids get out of here, now. It's been one hell of a morning."

"You said it." Max agreed. We stepped out of the school and went to the truck. The world turned white, and images of events that followed appeared in a haze around me. David and the police breaking into the dark room, and Mister Jefferson being arrested. We three trying to warn the town of a large storm, though no one listened, and ourselves standing by the lighthouse. A flash of lightning jolted me awake, cold rain hitting my skin.

"Max, it's time." Chloe sighed in resignation.

"Not anymore." Max growled, casting the photo into the wind. I watched it glide away into the churning tornado. It slowly came onto the shore, beginning to pick up buildings. An explosion went off at one point close to the shore.

"The diner." I stated, sitting on the bench with a sigh. All of those innocent people were dead or dying because we thought we could do better than them. In the grand scheme of things, we could do no better than any other vigilantes.

"This is wrong." I said solemnly. Chloe sat next to me and wrapped me in a hug.

"Yes, but this decision can't be erased. Either way, we can go to Los Angeles, like we planned. I'm sure we could stop a lot of crime in such a huge city."

"And, what? Cause a giant earthquake or something by rewinding?"

"No, we're going to figure out both of your powers. Once we learn how they work, we can start to help people."

"The three musketeers." I chuckled. We waited for the storm to pass, which it soon did, before driving through the town. Everything was in ruins, early morning casting shadows over what was left of the bay. Animals roamed the streets, buildings stood in rubble. The Two Whales diner sat in flames, Frank's RV wrecked outside. Chloe slowed to a stop as we reached the town border, looking to us.

"Time for a whole new life." I sighed. Chloe rubbed my shoulder sympathetically.

"You okay, Max?" She asked. Max shrugged as she looked out the window at the destruction. I gave her a one armed hug, trying to comfort her. Chloe began to drive, leaving Arcadia Bay in our wake.

"Sunrise... sunset... same thing, right?" I asked.

"Fine." Chloe rolled her eyes, giving me a small peck on the lips. I sat back with a grin. I had no idea what would happen to us in California, but I knew we would make it work. Besides, we were the only real vigilantes to actually have superpowers. At the end of the week, not the strangest thing in our lives.

AVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAV

 **AN: I know this probably wasn't as well made as the original ending, but I felt as if I needed a way to create a sequel. I know some comments will say things like: 'Why didn't they bring everyone with them?'** , **'Why didn't you just use the original 'sacrifice Arcadia Bay' ending from the game?'. I'll tell you why. Over a week they tried to find a way to stop the storm, as well as warning everyone. Despite those efforts, they were laughed off due to the extreme rarity of a tornado. That left them to give up and flee to the lighthouse once the storm did hit. As for why I didn't use the original ending; I felt as if** **Nick would go along with sacrificing Chloe to save the town, but save her due to selfish reasons. I simply wanted to give the OC more of a say in the story rather than just... being there. As always, Review, Like it, both?**

 **Goodbye, _NomadRA16_**


	18. Sacrifice Chloe

The camera flashed as Max took a picture of a blue butterfly. I hid in a stall, waiting for Nathan Prescott to pull out a gun. This time, however, a life wouldn't be saved.

"Make sure you get the picture, we need evidence." I said shakily. A single tear rolled down my cheek as I heard the door open, and footsteps head to the sink.

"It's cool, Nathan. Don't stress. You're okay, bro. Just count to three. Don't be scared. You own this school. If I wanted, I could blow it up. You're the boss." He coaxed himself. The door banged open a second time, and my dear bluenette came in, checking the first few stalls. "So what do you want?"

"I hope you checked the perimeter, as my step-ass would say. Now, let's talk bidness."

"I got nothing for you."

"Wrong. You got hella cash."

"That's my family, not me."

"Oh boo hoo, poor little rich kid. I know you been pumpin' drugs n' shit to kids around here. I bet your respectable family would help me out if I went to them. Man, I can see the headlines now."

"Leave them out of this, bitch."

"I can tell everybody Nathan Prescott is a punk ass who begs like a little girl and talks to himself!" The click of a gun echoed throughout the room.

"You don't know who the fuck I am or who you're messing around with!"

"Where'd you get that? What are you doing? Come on, put that thing down!"

"Don't ever tell me what to do. I'm so sick of people trying to control me!"

"You are going to get in hella more problems for this than drugs."

"Nobody would ever miss your 'punk ass', would they?"

"Get that gun away from me, psycho!" I couldn't bear it. I slumped to the floor, covering my face in my hands. A loud bang made me jolt, footsteps soon fleeing out of the room. I opened the stall and stepped out, my knees threatening to collapse. Chloe's eyes stared blankly at the ceiling, a single tear rolling down her cheek. I sat on the floor and covered my face, sobbing into my arms as her blood spread across the tiles.

"It's done." Max said shakily, stepping out from the corner.

"She... she didn't deserve this." I cried, still gazing at her body.

"But we saved everyone. All of Arcadia Bay is alive because of what we didn't do."

"I don't give a _fuck_ about everyone else. Arcadia Bay is run by scum, and inhabited by it. There are so few good people that they don't even count!"

"You don't mean that!" Max argued.

"You know what? I don't want to live in a world where bad things happen to good people. Especially one where people you trusted turn out to be corrupted assholes." I growled, grabbing Chloe's keys and running from the room. Max gave chase, calling out for me to stop. I didn't hear, though, all I could hear was Chloe's voice cheering me on. I flew past Nathan, still holding his gun, and snatched it out of his hand. I fired a bullet behind me, and kept going until I reached Jefferson's room. I shot with dead accuracy into his forehead. Victoria screamed, but was confused when she saw that he wasn't dead. I kept going, out of the building and to Chloe's truck.

"Nick, please!" Max yelled, in the distance.

"Fuck the world! They don't deserve heroes like us!" I screamed back, slamming the door and taking off. My phone immediately buzzed, I decided to answer if only to hear a friend's voice.

"Don't you dare. Not after everything we've been through." She pleaded. I didn't say a word as I fired a shot into my temple.

"It's too late. You know that I can do this infinitely. You'll bleed out long before you stop me from snapping my fingers."

"You need to think. You're focused on guilt right now. Please, I don't want to go through this alone."

"We could do this together. Like I said, nobody deserves what we could give. We try to be heroes, but we end up as abominations. The world would hate us if we let them know what we could do."

"Then we don't tell anyone."

"That's gonna work." I said sarcastically. "We ended up almost dying, watching friends die, and getting molested. All because we were trying to help."

"You know that would've happened either way."

"Think of what we've done since this morning. We tried to fix a broken town, only to find it beyond repair. It's like your camera. Small, specific tools are needed to fix it. Both of us... we're a hammer. We left nothing but death and destruction behind us."

"But that doesn't matter anymore. We fixed everything."

"We didn't fix shit! Chloe died, and now Jefferson and Nathan are gonna keep kidnapping girls and killing them afterwards. Don't think I didn't notice you not taking the picture. These coverups won't go away just because we stopped a fucking storm, Max!" I shouted at the phone.

"I know, that's why we need to stop them both."

"I already have. That means there's nothing left for me to do here."

"You shot them." Max gasped.

"You're damn right, now I don't have a future outside of prison. Student and teacher murdered for no apparent reason. Another dead in the bathroom. If you use your rewind powers the storm will start to brew again. My decision is final, so are you joining me or not?" I tossed the gun into the passenger's seat.

"I... I can't. We can both still do good here."

"We already tried good, didn't work. Time for a different tactic. Chloe didn't really want Arcadia Bay burnt to the shore, but a close second would be me throwing myself into it."

"No!" Max cried right before I cut the call. I drove all the way to the lighthouse, calmly walking up the beaten path and sitting on the bench for a moment to speak my last thoughts. I called Max again, who answered immediately.

"Thank God. I thought you were really going to-."

"I still am. I just wanted my last thoughts to be heard by someone. The world is beyond corrupt. Too much for us to handle. Yes, we got superpowers, but think of it this way; We're two fucking teenagers who got powers and thought we could make the world a better place. This isn't a comic book, Max. This is real life. We would be labelled as vigilantes and hunted down. Real heroes are the ones who get to walk away knowing they did something worth while, and I don't have that. We're specks trying to be something bigger than what we really are. What we do... it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. The world moves on as if nothing ever happened. I decided, the moment that gunshot rang out that I don't want to live in a hopeless world. At least, not without Chloe."

"Nick... please." She begged. I stood from the bench and broke into a sprint towards the cliff edge.

"Goodbye, Max." I said back, ending the call and leaping off. I allowed myself to feel the wind rush through my hair as I fell, the churning sea far below. I snapped my fingers, and Max broke into sobbing as she watched a student and a teacher suddenly drop dead where they stood.

AVAVAVAVA-Peace, at Last-AVAVAVAVA

"Hey, you awake?" Said a voice. I opened my eyes and looked around. I was sitting on a park bench, Chloe resting against me. The lighthouse stood tall and proud, bathed in the orange sunlight.

"Chloe?" I asked hopefully. She shifted to look at me.

"You shouldn't have done that." She sighed.

"I know, but I couldn't bear the thought of living without you."

"But you could have. It may not have been easy for you, but you would have moved on eventually."

"Not this time. This week has given me such a new perspective on the world. No one deserves what we could give."

"Not everyone is like Nathan and Mister Jefferson. There are still good people in the world." She sighed and rested against me again. "I guess it doesn't matter now, anyway. No going back this time."

"I wouldn't want to. All I ever need is here with me." I leaned my head to rest against hers, watching the orange sun touch the rippling waves far below.

"We finally got our sunset." She sighed contently, snuggling into me. I smiled, squeezing her in a hug. We slowly drifted off into a peaceful sleep. For the first time in a week, I felt pure joy.

AVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAV

 **AN: Thank you for reading. I didn't know how I would end this story when I started it, but the further I got I felt as if Nick would be so guilty about allowing Chloe to die, as well as being pissed at the world, that he would refuse to live in the same life as so much evil. I see the whole superhero story as a type of Spider-Man situation; Despite the fact that they try their best, there will always be another problem or criminal to replace it. An endless battle against a threat that never dies. Nick realized that, and decided he would rather spend eternity with Chloe in the afterlife than fight that battle. I realize I'm rambling through text, but I've been so invested in writing this story that I have all of these last minute thoughts to write. I was originally planning on saving Chloe and making a sequel about Max and Nick figuring out their powers further after leaving a ruined Arcadia Bay, but I felt that a more realistic ending would be following the guilt of allowing Chloe to die. Who knows, maybe I'll write an alternate ending, like a 'choose your own story' type of thing that let's me write a sequel. I see this as the true ending to the story, as I made this using my own ideas rather than a script. It holds more of myself in it than a different ending would. I guess that's all I'll write for now. Again, thank you for reading, and be sure to review, or like it, or both.**

 **Goodbye, _NomadRA16_**


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